Opinion / Columnist
Chamisa, Mwonzora quid pro quo kills dead hope of MDC getting rid of deadwood and renewal
15 Apr 2019 at 20:10hrs | Views
"I came here to say this on my own. I, Douglas Mwonzora, have agreed with President Chamisa that at the congress the President will be Chamisa," announced Mwonzora.
"We also agreed that I will try to get the position of Secretary General of the party. President Chamisa will complete what he started and I also want to finish what I started in my position."
This would be laughable if the political ramifications of the MDC perfidious carry-ons were not so disastrous to the party and the nation at large!
So thanks to Mwonzora's withdrawal from the race, Nelson Chamisa will now be rubber stamped leader of the party without ever being grilled on what he stands for, what he hopes to achieve, what went wrong in the past, etc., etc.!
"We spoke and agreed that each would play in their position. I was given this jacket by the late President Morgan (Tsvangirai) and we have agreed that I should wear it," Nelson Chamisa replied, addressing the same crowd.
Mwonzora's own position as Secretary General is secure too without him having to say what he has ever achieved in the last five years and hopes to achieve in the future.
A meaningful democratic contestation will give the electing members a meaning choice. The contestants are particularly good at scrutinising each other record and holding one to account; giving the electorate an important insight on candidates and thus from this wealth of information elect the right candidate.
Both Chaimisa and Mwonzora have been in leadership position ever since the formation of the MDC nearly 20 years ago now and, if the truth be told, the party has accomplished very little of note.
It should be remember that the Zimbabwe people have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power on the understanding the party would delivery the democratic changes the nation has been dying for. In all the 19 years and many golden opportunities to do so, the party has failed to implement even one democratic reform. Not one! Proof there is a lot of deadwood in the party.
Mugabe was renowned for his political machinations turning elective Zanu-PF party congresses into a total waste of time. His name was always the only one in the hat for the top job and so instead of an election it was always a coronation.
Mugabe imposed the candidates he wanted and congress then rubber stamped his choice. In the 2004, for example, Emmerson Mnangagwa was set to win the post of VP following the death of Simon Muzenda. Mugabe unilaterally changed the party's constitution to demand that one of the top four presidium post must be a woman. So Mnangagwa was forced to withdraw leaving the field open for Joice Mujuru.
Ten years latter in 2014, Mujuru was set to retain the VP post in her own right and Mugabe stepped in to foil that. She was accused of plotting to assassinate Mugabe and was "baby dumped", as Grace Mugabe boasted. The charges against Mujuru were dropped without anyone being arrested as soon as it was clear she was no long a political threat to Mugabe.
Sadly, MDC leaders have copied Mugabe's undemocratic and dictatorial practices. The late Morgan Tsvangirai used spurious powers to extend his own stay as party leader beyond the maximum two five-year term, to appoint Chamisa and Mudzuri VPs, etc.
When Tsvangirai died in February 2018, Chamisa seized the top post without giving the other two VPs of the party a chance to challenge him for the position.
MDC should be taking full advantage of next month's elective congress to do some serious spring cleaning and get rid of the deadwood and tie up the loose end in the party constitution that have allowed leaders to abuse their position in the past. Chamisa and Mwonzora's quid pro quo has killed all hope of any meaningful debate, competition and change stone dead.
The post May 2018 MDC will just as corrupt and incompetent as the MDC of the last 19 years! We can be certain that MDC will participate in future elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process happen to be, for example, just as the party has done these last 19 years!
Of course, it is very disappointing that MDC has just wasted a golden opportunity to self-renewal itself and finally play a meaningful role in the dragging the nation out of the hell-on-earth we find ourselves stuck in.
Still, the sooner the people of Zimbabwe wake-up to the political reality that MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent the sooner the nation can start searching for a way out of this hell-hole!
"We also agreed that I will try to get the position of Secretary General of the party. President Chamisa will complete what he started and I also want to finish what I started in my position."
This would be laughable if the political ramifications of the MDC perfidious carry-ons were not so disastrous to the party and the nation at large!
So thanks to Mwonzora's withdrawal from the race, Nelson Chamisa will now be rubber stamped leader of the party without ever being grilled on what he stands for, what he hopes to achieve, what went wrong in the past, etc., etc.!
"We spoke and agreed that each would play in their position. I was given this jacket by the late President Morgan (Tsvangirai) and we have agreed that I should wear it," Nelson Chamisa replied, addressing the same crowd.
Mwonzora's own position as Secretary General is secure too without him having to say what he has ever achieved in the last five years and hopes to achieve in the future.
A meaningful democratic contestation will give the electing members a meaning choice. The contestants are particularly good at scrutinising each other record and holding one to account; giving the electorate an important insight on candidates and thus from this wealth of information elect the right candidate.
Both Chaimisa and Mwonzora have been in leadership position ever since the formation of the MDC nearly 20 years ago now and, if the truth be told, the party has accomplished very little of note.
It should be remember that the Zimbabwe people have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power on the understanding the party would delivery the democratic changes the nation has been dying for. In all the 19 years and many golden opportunities to do so, the party has failed to implement even one democratic reform. Not one! Proof there is a lot of deadwood in the party.
Mugabe was renowned for his political machinations turning elective Zanu-PF party congresses into a total waste of time. His name was always the only one in the hat for the top job and so instead of an election it was always a coronation.
Mugabe imposed the candidates he wanted and congress then rubber stamped his choice. In the 2004, for example, Emmerson Mnangagwa was set to win the post of VP following the death of Simon Muzenda. Mugabe unilaterally changed the party's constitution to demand that one of the top four presidium post must be a woman. So Mnangagwa was forced to withdraw leaving the field open for Joice Mujuru.
Ten years latter in 2014, Mujuru was set to retain the VP post in her own right and Mugabe stepped in to foil that. She was accused of plotting to assassinate Mugabe and was "baby dumped", as Grace Mugabe boasted. The charges against Mujuru were dropped without anyone being arrested as soon as it was clear she was no long a political threat to Mugabe.
Sadly, MDC leaders have copied Mugabe's undemocratic and dictatorial practices. The late Morgan Tsvangirai used spurious powers to extend his own stay as party leader beyond the maximum two five-year term, to appoint Chamisa and Mudzuri VPs, etc.
When Tsvangirai died in February 2018, Chamisa seized the top post without giving the other two VPs of the party a chance to challenge him for the position.
MDC should be taking full advantage of next month's elective congress to do some serious spring cleaning and get rid of the deadwood and tie up the loose end in the party constitution that have allowed leaders to abuse their position in the past. Chamisa and Mwonzora's quid pro quo has killed all hope of any meaningful debate, competition and change stone dead.
The post May 2018 MDC will just as corrupt and incompetent as the MDC of the last 19 years! We can be certain that MDC will participate in future elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process happen to be, for example, just as the party has done these last 19 years!
Of course, it is very disappointing that MDC has just wasted a golden opportunity to self-renewal itself and finally play a meaningful role in the dragging the nation out of the hell-on-earth we find ourselves stuck in.
Still, the sooner the people of Zimbabwe wake-up to the political reality that MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent the sooner the nation can start searching for a way out of this hell-hole!
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.com
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