Opinion / Columnist
Flea with no legs cannot hear, is a fallacy. So too is, Chamisa did us a favour participating in 2023 elections
07 Oct 2023 at 02:42hrs | Views
To claim that Nelson Chamisa and his CCC friends did the people of Zimbabwe a great favour by participating in the flawed 2023 elections is a fallacy.
"If CCC had boycotted the elections, the remaining small parties like Mwonzora's MDC and Madhuku's NCA would not have been a serious political threat to force Zanu PF to rig the elections. And so SADC and AU would have found no flaws and illegalities to condemn!" the proponents of the CCC favour fallacy argue.
By definition: a contradictory premises fallacy occurs when someone presents a conclusion that cannot be accurate based on the premises set forth.
There was a morbid scientist who trained a flea to jump at his command. He then proceeded to remove the poor creature's limbs, one by one. With the loss of each limb the insect moved at the command or be it not as far as with all its legs. After the last leg, the insect did not budge!
"A flea without legs cannot hear!" concluded our morbid scientist!
Of course, the claim that CCC did the nation a great service by participating in the flawed and illegal 23 August 2023 elections is a contradictory premises fallacy. For one thing, if the party did us a great favour this year then it must have also done us a great favour during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when Morgan Tsvangirai and company had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and thus ended Zanu PF's carte blanche powers to rig elections.
With all the democratic reforms implemented Zimbabwe would have held its first ever free, fair and credible elections in 2013 and from henceforth have been a healthy and functioning democratic nation. Think of the economic and political benefits the last ten years would have brought.
These 23 August 2023 elections would have been free, fair and credible consolidating Zimbabwe's position as a bastion of peace, freedom and liberty; free at last from the clutches of corrupt and tyrannical vote rigging thugs!
"Yeah! But the nation would be very disappointed that SADC and AU election reports would have found no flaws and illegalities to report about!" our morbid CCC leader would argue!
The truth is CCC leaders participated in this 2023 elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging the elections and that participating would give Zanu PF legitimacy. They still participated regardless because they also knew that Zanu PF was offering a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process got.
Zanu PF knew the party could never win free, fair and credible elections even against the small parties like MDC and NCA, at least the party would be foolish to make such a gabble. Zanu PF knew the party would get away with blatantly rigged elections as long as the opposition participated in the flawed elections on mass.
After 2018 elections, Mnangagwa created the POLAD grouping to reward the losers of the presidential rat race. Lovemore Madhuku was one of the beneficiaries of the POLAD freebies and, no doubt, he and many others had their beady eyes on POLAD freebies this time too.
In the 2013 and 2018 Zanu PF rigged the elections and MDC/CCC participated with the usual enthusiasm and SADC and AU election observers played along and turned a blind eye to the rigging. Of course both Zanu PF and CCC were surprise that SADC and AU observers had departed from the usual script and condemned the 2023 Zimbabwe elections!
For CCC leaders to now claim that party had deliberately failed to implement the reforms so that SADC and AU would have the flaws and illegalities to report about is nonsense!
"The (2013) 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," confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
They should have implemented the reforms, then boycotting would have been irrelevant. However, when they had failed to implement the reforms, boycotting was the more rational option since the alternative was giving Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed.
CCC leaders' greed was so strong that they ignored SADC and AU reports denounce the election as a sham to take up their gravy train seats. No doubt, Madhuku and others cannot wait for the dust to settle so they too can claim their POLAD freebies.
For Chamisa and company to claim the fortuitous SADC and AU damning report of the 23 August 2023 as their doing; is an outrage that must be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserves.
Indeed, the nation is hoping that SADC leaders will do the honourable thing and uphold the SADC damning report and thus deny this Zanu PF regime complete with its surrogate CCC opposition political legitimacy. The country will then be compelled to devise a National Transition Authority (NTA) who primary task will be bio implement the democratic reforms and end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance.
Both Zanu PF and CCC cannot be in the NTA. The former will never reform itself out of office and the latter, will no doubt, not want to implement the reforms to give future SADC and AU election observers have some flaws and illegalities to report on!
By including both Zanu PF and CCC we can be certain not ALL the reforms will be implemented; in the 2008 to 2013 GNU they failed to implement even one token reform. Zimbabwe is a failed state and cannot afford to waste the chance this NTA has created to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance!
"If CCC had boycotted the elections, the remaining small parties like Mwonzora's MDC and Madhuku's NCA would not have been a serious political threat to force Zanu PF to rig the elections. And so SADC and AU would have found no flaws and illegalities to condemn!" the proponents of the CCC favour fallacy argue.
By definition: a contradictory premises fallacy occurs when someone presents a conclusion that cannot be accurate based on the premises set forth.
There was a morbid scientist who trained a flea to jump at his command. He then proceeded to remove the poor creature's limbs, one by one. With the loss of each limb the insect moved at the command or be it not as far as with all its legs. After the last leg, the insect did not budge!
"A flea without legs cannot hear!" concluded our morbid scientist!
Of course, the claim that CCC did the nation a great service by participating in the flawed and illegal 23 August 2023 elections is a contradictory premises fallacy. For one thing, if the party did us a great favour this year then it must have also done us a great favour during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when Morgan Tsvangirai and company had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms and thus ended Zanu PF's carte blanche powers to rig elections.
With all the democratic reforms implemented Zimbabwe would have held its first ever free, fair and credible elections in 2013 and from henceforth have been a healthy and functioning democratic nation. Think of the economic and political benefits the last ten years would have brought.
These 23 August 2023 elections would have been free, fair and credible consolidating Zimbabwe's position as a bastion of peace, freedom and liberty; free at last from the clutches of corrupt and tyrannical vote rigging thugs!
"Yeah! But the nation would be very disappointed that SADC and AU election reports would have found no flaws and illegalities to report about!" our morbid CCC leader would argue!
The truth is CCC leaders participated in this 2023 elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging the elections and that participating would give Zanu PF legitimacy. They still participated regardless because they also knew that Zanu PF was offering a few gravy train seats to entice the opposition to participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process got.
Zanu PF knew the party could never win free, fair and credible elections even against the small parties like MDC and NCA, at least the party would be foolish to make such a gabble. Zanu PF knew the party would get away with blatantly rigged elections as long as the opposition participated in the flawed elections on mass.
After 2018 elections, Mnangagwa created the POLAD grouping to reward the losers of the presidential rat race. Lovemore Madhuku was one of the beneficiaries of the POLAD freebies and, no doubt, he and many others had their beady eyes on POLAD freebies this time too.
In the 2013 and 2018 Zanu PF rigged the elections and MDC/CCC participated with the usual enthusiasm and SADC and AU election observers played along and turned a blind eye to the rigging. Of course both Zanu PF and CCC were surprise that SADC and AU observers had departed from the usual script and condemned the 2023 Zimbabwe elections!
For CCC leaders to now claim that party had deliberately failed to implement the reforms so that SADC and AU would have the flaws and illegalities to report about is nonsense!
"The (2013) 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," confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
They should have implemented the reforms, then boycotting would have been irrelevant. However, when they had failed to implement the reforms, boycotting was the more rational option since the alternative was giving Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed.
CCC leaders' greed was so strong that they ignored SADC and AU reports denounce the election as a sham to take up their gravy train seats. No doubt, Madhuku and others cannot wait for the dust to settle so they too can claim their POLAD freebies.
For Chamisa and company to claim the fortuitous SADC and AU damning report of the 23 August 2023 as their doing; is an outrage that must be dismissed with the contempt it rightly deserves.
Indeed, the nation is hoping that SADC leaders will do the honourable thing and uphold the SADC damning report and thus deny this Zanu PF regime complete with its surrogate CCC opposition political legitimacy. The country will then be compelled to devise a National Transition Authority (NTA) who primary task will be bio implement the democratic reforms and end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance.
Both Zanu PF and CCC cannot be in the NTA. The former will never reform itself out of office and the latter, will no doubt, not want to implement the reforms to give future SADC and AU election observers have some flaws and illegalities to report on!
By including both Zanu PF and CCC we can be certain not ALL the reforms will be implemented; in the 2008 to 2013 GNU they failed to implement even one token reform. Zimbabwe is a failed state and cannot afford to waste the chance this NTA has created to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance!
Source - zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
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