Opinion / Columnist
The triumphant entry into the cities
25 Jun 2015 at 05:46hrs | Views
The June 10 by-elections have come and gone, leaving different groups of people in different emotional dispositions. Some are pushing the boat out while others are weeping and singing dirges.
The mouthpieces of the opposition parties were packed with twaddle intended to discredit the electoral process that was transparently free, fair and credible. The MDC-T fallaciously celebrated the low turnout of voters, believing, wrongly though, that they heeded their call to boycott the elections. The MDC Renewal Team also slated Tsvangirai for donating the seats to Zanu-PF.
It has become a tradition for the opposition in Zimbabwe to cry foul every time they are given an electoral hiding. According to the MDC-T, every election that is not in their favour was rigged. This time around, they expectedly contested the poll results.
Strangely, the MDC-T cried more than the bereaved. Despite that, they created most of the vacancies in the urban constituencies by recalling rebel Member of Parliament who had crossed the floor to form the MDC-Renewal, the MDC-T decided to boycott the elections. One would expect that since they showed no interest in contesting in the elections, they would not even bother to comment on the same.
Perhaps Tsvangirai thought the buck stops with him. He probably thought his boycott would stop the democratic process. As 2018 is already on the horizon, the MDC-T must realise that such a political decision will never halt a democratic process enshrined in the constitution. They are not the Alpha and Omega in the political matrix of Zimbabwe. There are many other political players that matter in the game.
Smaller parties such as the Transform Zimbabwe (TZ), The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe (PDZ), Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn, Free Zimbabwe Congress (FZC), African Democratic Party (ADP), Freedom Front Party, DARE, PIMZ and several independent candidates participated in the by-election.
What is surprising is that the political parties that participated accepted their fate with dignity. They do not have misgivings about the electoral process, notwithstanding that they had hands on experience with the process. Some of them participated in the electoral process for the first time and to them it was a learning curve. Blessed are those who are willing to learn. Who knows, some of them might soon overshadow the MDCs.
The MDC-T celebrated the perceived low turnout of voters. They think the people heeded their call to snub the elections. Either it is a clear miss of the point or the MDC-T just wanted to find something to save its face. A political party of that magnitude must be clued-up on the nature of by-elections.
By-elections, the world over, are generally characterised by low voter turnout. Moreover, the by-elections were held on a working day and this largely explains the low voter turnout. The electorate generally do not attach much importance to by-elections for they are not game changers. For instance, even if Zanu-PF had lost all the 16 seats, that was not going to affect its two-thirds majority status. This is the reason why allegations of rigging must be dismissed with utmost contempt.
No sane party can risk its reputation by rigging an election that will not change much of its status. The MDC-T won 14 of the seats in the 2013 elections under the existing electoral conditions. It is difficult to work out why all of a sudden the MDC-T thought the by-elections would be rigged.
In any case, the MDC-T leadership stands accused of hypocrisy. They were in government for over four years but they failed to push for the so-called reforms that they hold most dear.
An opposition party like the MDC-T cannot expect to be taken seriously when they organise a rally to thank people for ‘snubbing' the elections. It appears as if the so-called boycott would prevent the winning candidates from joining the august house. Politics is the game of numbers. Even if everybody had heeded that dim-witted call to boycott elections, save for the candidates' families, a winner would still have emerged. Even if three people had casted their votes, that would have been suffice to determine a winner.
Even in Zambia, President Edgar Lungu won the presidential election by a narrow margin of just 1.66%. However, that did not stop him from being a president.
Contrary to the MDC-T's claim that the poll vindicated their position on election boycott, it instead exposed their folly of causing an election that they shun. The decision was an utter political miscarry. That was an own goal and the MDC-T has to apportion blame on itself. It has decimated its own numerical competitiveness in parliament merely because they wanted to fix the rebels. The MDC-T saw a better devil in Zanu-PF than in Tendai Biti fronted faction, hence the donation.
Surprisingly, the MDC-T still entertains the fantasy of ruling this country when they boycott the only instrument which can make that miracle happen. Probably they have other illegitimate means.
Luke Tamborinyoka has already hinted. "If they don't, as is likely, they must know that we reserve our right to engage in other routes of a strategic nature whose details we cannot divulge in a newspaper column," Tamborinyoka said
It is surprising that the MDC-T is now referring to some of the Afrobarometer survey findings to suit their point. The party made reference to part of the findings which claims that more than half of the country's population has no confidence in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). What a selective acceptance! This same party recently dismissed the findings, particularly the conclusion that Zanu-PF leads the pack on popularity.
The MDC-Renewal Team also came out guns blazing against Tsvangirai whom they accused of donating seats to Zanu-PF. However, the Renewal Team was never barred from participating in the June 10 by-elections. We wonder if it wanted the MDC-T to win the seats on its behalf. The Renewal Team should have just joined the race and reclaim their seats if they really renewed themselves. Its participation was going to gauge its popularity and show the electorate that they are worthy their investment.
Whatever noise about the by-election, for Zanu-PF, it was a triumphal entry into the cities that have been dominated by the MDCs for over a decade. The revolutionary party has liberated the constituencies that have been under the leadership of con artists. It is hoped that more constituencies will be liberated come 2018. Zanu-PF should not stop and kick at every dog that barks at it, for it will not reach its destination.
-------------
Tafara Shumba <tafieshumbaz@gmail.com
The mouthpieces of the opposition parties were packed with twaddle intended to discredit the electoral process that was transparently free, fair and credible. The MDC-T fallaciously celebrated the low turnout of voters, believing, wrongly though, that they heeded their call to boycott the elections. The MDC Renewal Team also slated Tsvangirai for donating the seats to Zanu-PF.
It has become a tradition for the opposition in Zimbabwe to cry foul every time they are given an electoral hiding. According to the MDC-T, every election that is not in their favour was rigged. This time around, they expectedly contested the poll results.
Strangely, the MDC-T cried more than the bereaved. Despite that, they created most of the vacancies in the urban constituencies by recalling rebel Member of Parliament who had crossed the floor to form the MDC-Renewal, the MDC-T decided to boycott the elections. One would expect that since they showed no interest in contesting in the elections, they would not even bother to comment on the same.
Perhaps Tsvangirai thought the buck stops with him. He probably thought his boycott would stop the democratic process. As 2018 is already on the horizon, the MDC-T must realise that such a political decision will never halt a democratic process enshrined in the constitution. They are not the Alpha and Omega in the political matrix of Zimbabwe. There are many other political players that matter in the game.
Smaller parties such as the Transform Zimbabwe (TZ), The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe (PDZ), Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn, Free Zimbabwe Congress (FZC), African Democratic Party (ADP), Freedom Front Party, DARE, PIMZ and several independent candidates participated in the by-election.
What is surprising is that the political parties that participated accepted their fate with dignity. They do not have misgivings about the electoral process, notwithstanding that they had hands on experience with the process. Some of them participated in the electoral process for the first time and to them it was a learning curve. Blessed are those who are willing to learn. Who knows, some of them might soon overshadow the MDCs.
The MDC-T celebrated the perceived low turnout of voters. They think the people heeded their call to snub the elections. Either it is a clear miss of the point or the MDC-T just wanted to find something to save its face. A political party of that magnitude must be clued-up on the nature of by-elections.
By-elections, the world over, are generally characterised by low voter turnout. Moreover, the by-elections were held on a working day and this largely explains the low voter turnout. The electorate generally do not attach much importance to by-elections for they are not game changers. For instance, even if Zanu-PF had lost all the 16 seats, that was not going to affect its two-thirds majority status. This is the reason why allegations of rigging must be dismissed with utmost contempt.
No sane party can risk its reputation by rigging an election that will not change much of its status. The MDC-T won 14 of the seats in the 2013 elections under the existing electoral conditions. It is difficult to work out why all of a sudden the MDC-T thought the by-elections would be rigged.
In any case, the MDC-T leadership stands accused of hypocrisy. They were in government for over four years but they failed to push for the so-called reforms that they hold most dear.
An opposition party like the MDC-T cannot expect to be taken seriously when they organise a rally to thank people for ‘snubbing' the elections. It appears as if the so-called boycott would prevent the winning candidates from joining the august house. Politics is the game of numbers. Even if everybody had heeded that dim-witted call to boycott elections, save for the candidates' families, a winner would still have emerged. Even if three people had casted their votes, that would have been suffice to determine a winner.
Even in Zambia, President Edgar Lungu won the presidential election by a narrow margin of just 1.66%. However, that did not stop him from being a president.
Contrary to the MDC-T's claim that the poll vindicated their position on election boycott, it instead exposed their folly of causing an election that they shun. The decision was an utter political miscarry. That was an own goal and the MDC-T has to apportion blame on itself. It has decimated its own numerical competitiveness in parliament merely because they wanted to fix the rebels. The MDC-T saw a better devil in Zanu-PF than in Tendai Biti fronted faction, hence the donation.
Surprisingly, the MDC-T still entertains the fantasy of ruling this country when they boycott the only instrument which can make that miracle happen. Probably they have other illegitimate means.
Luke Tamborinyoka has already hinted. "If they don't, as is likely, they must know that we reserve our right to engage in other routes of a strategic nature whose details we cannot divulge in a newspaper column," Tamborinyoka said
It is surprising that the MDC-T is now referring to some of the Afrobarometer survey findings to suit their point. The party made reference to part of the findings which claims that more than half of the country's population has no confidence in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). What a selective acceptance! This same party recently dismissed the findings, particularly the conclusion that Zanu-PF leads the pack on popularity.
The MDC-Renewal Team also came out guns blazing against Tsvangirai whom they accused of donating seats to Zanu-PF. However, the Renewal Team was never barred from participating in the June 10 by-elections. We wonder if it wanted the MDC-T to win the seats on its behalf. The Renewal Team should have just joined the race and reclaim their seats if they really renewed themselves. Its participation was going to gauge its popularity and show the electorate that they are worthy their investment.
Whatever noise about the by-election, for Zanu-PF, it was a triumphal entry into the cities that have been dominated by the MDCs for over a decade. The revolutionary party has liberated the constituencies that have been under the leadership of con artists. It is hoped that more constituencies will be liberated come 2018. Zanu-PF should not stop and kick at every dog that barks at it, for it will not reach its destination.
-------------
Tafara Shumba <tafieshumbaz@gmail.com
Source - Tafara Shumba
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