Mavambo Kusile Dawn commemorates international Day of democracy

Mavambo. Kusile.Dawn (MKD) joins the rest of the world in commemorating this international Day of democracy. As we celebrate this important day, it is sad that little has been done in our country to ensure that "Democracy" is achieved. It is also poignant to reveal that despite our country having managed to hold elections since independence, we are very far from being a democratic state. It is common knowledge that in mature democracies world over, elections are an important tenet to representative democracy. This is so for the reason that, in a democracy, the authority of the government derives solely from the consent of the governed. The fundamental rationale for translating that consent into governmental authority is the regular holding of free and fair elections.

However, in Zimbabwe, while we have seen regular elections, they have been far from being free and fair, with the last national election, the presidential runoff, being a farce earning the description of being sham. Elections have been held not as a means to afford the electorate a chance to choose their representatives and at the same time punish those who would have performed dismally, but as a way of legitimizing a clique of politicians' continued rule. Elections in Zimbabwe have become synonymous with violence.

 MKD believes that, opposition parties and candidates in this country must enjoy the freedom of speech, assembly, movement and choice necessary to voice their criticisms of the government openly and to bring alternative policies and candidates to the electorate. In light of that we feel that an election in which the opposition is barred from the airwaves and people are intimidated in order to vote for a particular party or candidate is not democratic and should not be endorsed and tolerated in any way. Laws and regulations governing the funding of political parties need to be reviewed, to accommodate the financial difficulties confronting the country. However, should there be limitations to the funding of political parties; such limitations should be applied equally and fairly to all parties. In the past, we have seen selective application of the law, allowing some parties to import container loads of materials and millions of funds from outside, while restricting other parties to only domestic resourcing.

Such actions do not only break the law, but also create an uneven political landscape.

As a party committed to the tenets of democracy, we wish to remind government that it's high time they conform to good governance by establishing democratic institutions. In light of that we feel, if that is not done as a matter of urgency people might end up resorting to participate in the dramatic events which has recently happened in North Africa and Middle East. We are also very concerned that those in authority have decided to reduce our people to became beggars of democracy denying them of their God given right to participate and engage in democratic processes.

As we mark this important day we wish to thank all Zimbabweans and all democratic institution that have tried their best and shown immerse courage in the fight for good governance and democracy to this regime that democracy is a universal model yearned for by all people irrespective of race, culture or origin and hence it should be practiced. In that regard we also appeal to all democratic forces to redouble their efforts so that one day democracy might see the light of the day. We also thank SADC, AU, UN and EU for exerting pressure on President Mugabe and Zanu PF to ensure improvements in human rights abuses and the holding of free and fair elections is achieved.