'POLAD are cheer-leading autocracy' said MDC A - and who keeps giving the autocrats legitimacy

"The MDC Alliance will never join POLAD. It's not the function of a legitimate opposition party to take trinkets in exchange for cheerleading autocracy. We continue to hold the regime accountable, demand better lives for the people and push for reforms in all areas of governance," said Fadzayi Mahere, the Spokesperson of the MDC A, on twitter.

This is typical MDC A nonsense making a mountain out of a molehill!

All the opposition politicians who participated in the 2018 presidential, parliamentary and local elections know that Zanu-PF was going to rig those elections because not even one token reform had been implemented since the 2013 rigged elections.

All the opposition politicians knew that by participating in the flawed and illegal 2018 elections they will be giving the process credibility and, by extension, giving the vote rigging Zanu-PF regime legitimacy.

So, the opposition politicians knew Zanu-PF was rigging the elections and knew by participating they will give the illegitimate Zanu-PF regime legitimacy and yet the opposition not only participated but did so in very impressive large numbers.

There were a staggering 23 presidential candidates, over 130 political parties contested many of the parliamentary and local elections races and there were thousands of independent candidates who threw their hats in the various rat races. (Fadzayi Mahere was one of the thousands of the independent candidate who contested and lost!)

Why?

Greed!

Everyone in the opposition also knew that Zanu-PF was giving away a few of the gravy train seats; the generous salary and allowance for winners of local government, parliamentary and senate seats plus a share of the annual cash pay-out from Political Party Finance Act to any party that win 5% plus of the votes.

Zanu-PF was giving away the few gravy-train seats as the bait to entice the opposition to participate regardless how flawed and illegal the elections process. A price Zanu-PF was prepared to pay for legitimacy of opposition participating and, judging from the enthusiasm of the opposition, they found the bribe the clearly found irresistible! Each side knew the score in this political trade-off!    

"The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections," confessed David Coltart in his book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe. Coltart is MDC A Treasurer General and senator, one of the lucky few to get a gravy-train seat.

"The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu-PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."

Of course, it was very childish of Nelson Chamisa to complain that Zanu-PF rigged the 2018 elections when this was known by all, including himself, that with no reforms in place Zanu-PF will rig the elections. "MDC A has stringent measures to stop Zanu-PF rigging the elections!" Chamisa had boasted before the 2018 elections.

The real reason Chamisa and his MDC A friends had refused to join POLAD was because they did not want to be treated as equals to the other POLAD members. They wanted a different political arrangement in which Chamisa and a few others hold shadow cabinet posts complete with the salary, ministerial limo and other perk.

Many Zimbabweans are finding such claims by MDC A leaders as "pushing for reforms in all areas of governance", insulting to say the least. It is common knowledge that the party leaders failed to implement even one reform when they had the chance to do so during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and have since given up on reforms.  

Right now, Chamisa and his MDC A colleagues, as are all the other opposition politicians who find the bait Zanu-PF is offering irresistible, are gearing to participate in the 2023 elections knowing fully well Zanu-PF is rigging the elections and they are participating it out of greed. Chamisa and company are the ones perpetuating Zanu-PF rule by giving the vote rigging regime legitimacy. Of course, it is an insult for MDC A leaders to lie about pushing for free, fair and credible elections when that is the one thing they are not doing.