Opinion / Columnist
Trump serving 3rd term cannot be compared to vote rigging Mnangagwa 2030 imposition
4 hrs ago | Views
"A Republican House member introduced a resolution to amend the American Constitution to allow President Donald Trump - and any other future presidents - to be elected to serve a third term." reported CNBC.
The news was greeted with joy and jubilation by Mnangagwa and his "Mnangagwa for 2030" bandwagon. If the Americans can amend their constitution to allow their president to serve a third term, surely Zimbabweans should be allowed to do the same!
What is good for the goose is good for the gander!
Comparing the two amendments and the two nation is nonsensical and here is why:
1) American constitutional amendment will allow future presidents to stand for election for a third term, Zimbabwe's proposed constitutional amendment is seeking to allow parliament to postpone elections to allow president, MPs, Senators and all other elected public officials to extend their stay in office without having to seek a fresh mandate from the people.
2) The people of Zimbabwe were stuck with President Robert Mugabe for 37 years not because they wanted him to stay. They could not get him out of office because he rigged the elections. When Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe following the 2017 military coup, he promised to hold free and fair elections. He failed to keep his promise and he rigged the 2018 and 2023 elections. Zimbabweans fought hard to make sure the two term maximum limit was added to the 2013 Constitution as a desperate measure to stop vote-rigging presidential leaders staying beyond the ten years.
3) America has a 250-year-old tradition of holding free, fair and credible elections, all the nation's presidents had the people's mandate in a free, fair and credible elections. And so there is no fear that amending the constitution to allow a third term would have any detrimental effect on the quality of government.
4) Zimbabwe has failed to hold free, fair and credible elections in the country's 45 years of independence. Free, fair and credible elections are not just a fundamental right, there are the very essence of good governance. Zimbabwe is a dysfunction autocracy that has failed to remove failed leaders through elections because they rig elections and has been hoping to limit the failed leaders to stay in office through maximum term limit.
The proposed American constitutional amendment to allow future president to serve a third term will have no effect on the quality of government because it is the free, fair and credible people's democratic mandate that has been the guarantor of quality government. The proposed Zimbabwe constitutional amendment to postpone elections will give the vote rigging ruling elite the absolute power to do as the damn well please and drag the nation even deeper into the economic and political abyss.
To compare amending the American constitution to allow one to serve a third presidential term to Zimbabwe's amendment to take away the people's power to elect leaders is as outrageous as comparing drinking water to drinking poison!
The news was greeted with joy and jubilation by Mnangagwa and his "Mnangagwa for 2030" bandwagon. If the Americans can amend their constitution to allow their president to serve a third term, surely Zimbabweans should be allowed to do the same!
What is good for the goose is good for the gander!
Comparing the two amendments and the two nation is nonsensical and here is why:
1) American constitutional amendment will allow future presidents to stand for election for a third term, Zimbabwe's proposed constitutional amendment is seeking to allow parliament to postpone elections to allow president, MPs, Senators and all other elected public officials to extend their stay in office without having to seek a fresh mandate from the people.
3) America has a 250-year-old tradition of holding free, fair and credible elections, all the nation's presidents had the people's mandate in a free, fair and credible elections. And so there is no fear that amending the constitution to allow a third term would have any detrimental effect on the quality of government.
4) Zimbabwe has failed to hold free, fair and credible elections in the country's 45 years of independence. Free, fair and credible elections are not just a fundamental right, there are the very essence of good governance. Zimbabwe is a dysfunction autocracy that has failed to remove failed leaders through elections because they rig elections and has been hoping to limit the failed leaders to stay in office through maximum term limit.
The proposed American constitutional amendment to allow future president to serve a third term will have no effect on the quality of government because it is the free, fair and credible people's democratic mandate that has been the guarantor of quality government. The proposed Zimbabwe constitutional amendment to postpone elections will give the vote rigging ruling elite the absolute power to do as the damn well please and drag the nation even deeper into the economic and political abyss.
To compare amending the American constitution to allow one to serve a third presidential term to Zimbabwe's amendment to take away the people's power to elect leaders is as outrageous as comparing drinking water to drinking poison!
Source - zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
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