Opinion / Columnist
Elections will sort 'who is who in Zoo' says MP Cross - first implement reform
22 Jun 2016 at 15:37hrs | Views
"Peace for our time" is a phrase, spoken on 30 September 1938 by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his speech defending the Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Declaration. The speech has gone down in the annals of history as a costly act of naivety and folly for in less than a year the Germany dictator Adolf Hitler invaded Poland and declared war on France, United Kingdom and many, many other nations beside. "Peace for our time!" was violently and utterly shattered into a million pieces!
The Second World War was the very antithesis of peace; for the next seven years the world was to witness what man can do to his fellow man, millions of human lives were lost and there was wanton destruction of property. It has taken generations to rebuild the cities and nation who bore the brunt of the WWII but the scar the war left on humanity will never be forgotten. Never!
Whilst no one blames PM Chamberlain for what Hitler unleashed on us all, still no student of history worth his salt can deny that by being so naïve and gullible the British PM did make it easy for Heil Hitler to do as he pleased. What makes it worse is that PM Chamberlain was warned of the dangers of appeasing a snake like Hitler and he chose to ignore the warning.
History has the habit of repeating itself or be it at a smaller national or personal level, but the con-sequences are just as disastrous for those involved. In the last 16 years the people of Zimbabwe has suffered untold human misery and many have lost their lives because, PM Chamberlain, former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has been naïve and gullible and would not listen to the warnings of the dangers of appeasing Mugabe.
"Finally the election took place, Zanu-PF was soundly defeated and then the process fell apart, SADC leaders failed to follow through and after 9 months of messy political activity, a Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed and took control of the State in early 2009," wrote Eddie Cross, senior and trusted "kitchen cabinet members" of PM Tsvangirai.
Whilst it is true that SADC leaders blundered in proposing the formation of GNU after the July 2008 presidential run-off marred by violence it is nonetheless equally true that the MDC could still have stopped Mugabe doing as he pleased if the party had not been so naïve and stubborn.
When it was clear Zanu-PF had lost the March 2008 elections but was deliberately refusing to an-nounce the result; MDC leaders met Zanu-PF's Nicholas Goche and offered some Zanu-PF members cabinet positions in the new MDC led government. Of course this was a blatant act of appeasement on MDC's and proof the party lacked the confidence to govern alone. Mugabe took full advantage of this and to "cook" the election results to justify a presidential run-off and to demand more power in the GNU partnership.
In the GNU Mugabe reduced PM Tsvangirai to nothing more than his Office boy. Many people ad-vised Tsvangirai not to accept the arrangement notably the USA Ambassador, James Mcghee, who described it have "more holes than Swiss cheese". Tsvangirai et al ignored the advice and went into the GNU.
Still even with all its political limitation there is no doubt that GNU could have accomplished its prin-ciple task of implementing the democratic reforms to ensure Zimbabwe's future elections were free, fair and credible. To fair to SADC leaders, they did their best to remind MDC to implement the reforms. Sadly, MDC leaders ignored the warning and failed to get even one reform implemented in five years!
"Then, just as in 2005 when Zanu-PF engineered a two thirds majority in the House of Assembly, they did it again (in 2013) and MDC was kicked back into opposition," wrote MP Eddie Cross, com-menting on the rigged 2013 elections.
What MP Cross, former PM Tsvangirai and most of the MDC leaders has refused to admit and is refusing to do so to this day is that simple fact that by failing to implement even one reform to ap-pease Mugabe during the GNU they had per se "engineered" their own defeat. Their continued denial of their failure since the July 2013 is not doing the nation any favours because it means nothing is being done to implement the reforms and so Zanu-PF will once again be free to blatantly rig the next elections just as happened in 2013!
Morgan Tsvangirai assured the people of Zimbabwe the 2013 elections would be "free, fair and credible" just as PM Chamberlain assured the British "Peace for our time". When Hitler shatter the Chamberlain's illusionary peace the British people ditched the dreamer to fight a bitter war before there was peace. We are did not have free and fair elections in 2013 and are now paying dearly for having listened to Tsvangirai. It is sheer folly for this nation to once again believe MDC leaders' promise of free and fair elections when we know they have still not implemented even one demo-cratic reform!
"Unlike 2008, the Zanu-PF Party is completely fractured into at least 4 factions. It cannot be put back together in any sort of semblance of what it has been and no reconciliation is possible. The opposition is no less fractured and comprises over 30 Parties. Who is who in the Zoo can only be determined by an election," acknowledged MP Cross.
"Major figures in the Parties do not want an election because they well know that they could not win an election that is run on the basis of the SADC rules for democratic elections."
Wrong the 2013 elections were not run on the basis of the SADC rules; SADC reminded MDC to im-plement the democratic reforms but you lot would not listen.
The solution to Zimbabwe's economic and political paralysis is simple Zimbabwe; implement all the democratic reforms MDC failed to implement during the GNU designed to stop Zanu-PF rigging elections but most important of all designed to end the stifling of meaningful debate and democratic competition. For it is the free debate and democratic competition that will separate the wheat from the chuff.
We are not interested in sorting out "who is who in Zimbabwe's political zoo" but in in getting rid of the tyrants and the thugs and all those who have made a career of appeasing tyrants that is why we want not just any elections but specifically free, fair and credible elections.
--------------
Wilbert Mukori <zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
The Second World War was the very antithesis of peace; for the next seven years the world was to witness what man can do to his fellow man, millions of human lives were lost and there was wanton destruction of property. It has taken generations to rebuild the cities and nation who bore the brunt of the WWII but the scar the war left on humanity will never be forgotten. Never!
Whilst no one blames PM Chamberlain for what Hitler unleashed on us all, still no student of history worth his salt can deny that by being so naïve and gullible the British PM did make it easy for Heil Hitler to do as he pleased. What makes it worse is that PM Chamberlain was warned of the dangers of appeasing a snake like Hitler and he chose to ignore the warning.
History has the habit of repeating itself or be it at a smaller national or personal level, but the con-sequences are just as disastrous for those involved. In the last 16 years the people of Zimbabwe has suffered untold human misery and many have lost their lives because, PM Chamberlain, former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has been naïve and gullible and would not listen to the warnings of the dangers of appeasing Mugabe.
"Finally the election took place, Zanu-PF was soundly defeated and then the process fell apart, SADC leaders failed to follow through and after 9 months of messy political activity, a Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed and took control of the State in early 2009," wrote Eddie Cross, senior and trusted "kitchen cabinet members" of PM Tsvangirai.
Whilst it is true that SADC leaders blundered in proposing the formation of GNU after the July 2008 presidential run-off marred by violence it is nonetheless equally true that the MDC could still have stopped Mugabe doing as he pleased if the party had not been so naïve and stubborn.
When it was clear Zanu-PF had lost the March 2008 elections but was deliberately refusing to an-nounce the result; MDC leaders met Zanu-PF's Nicholas Goche and offered some Zanu-PF members cabinet positions in the new MDC led government. Of course this was a blatant act of appeasement on MDC's and proof the party lacked the confidence to govern alone. Mugabe took full advantage of this and to "cook" the election results to justify a presidential run-off and to demand more power in the GNU partnership.
In the GNU Mugabe reduced PM Tsvangirai to nothing more than his Office boy. Many people ad-vised Tsvangirai not to accept the arrangement notably the USA Ambassador, James Mcghee, who described it have "more holes than Swiss cheese". Tsvangirai et al ignored the advice and went into the GNU.
Still even with all its political limitation there is no doubt that GNU could have accomplished its prin-ciple task of implementing the democratic reforms to ensure Zimbabwe's future elections were free, fair and credible. To fair to SADC leaders, they did their best to remind MDC to implement the reforms. Sadly, MDC leaders ignored the warning and failed to get even one reform implemented in five years!
"Then, just as in 2005 when Zanu-PF engineered a two thirds majority in the House of Assembly, they did it again (in 2013) and MDC was kicked back into opposition," wrote MP Eddie Cross, com-menting on the rigged 2013 elections.
What MP Cross, former PM Tsvangirai and most of the MDC leaders has refused to admit and is refusing to do so to this day is that simple fact that by failing to implement even one reform to ap-pease Mugabe during the GNU they had per se "engineered" their own defeat. Their continued denial of their failure since the July 2013 is not doing the nation any favours because it means nothing is being done to implement the reforms and so Zanu-PF will once again be free to blatantly rig the next elections just as happened in 2013!
Morgan Tsvangirai assured the people of Zimbabwe the 2013 elections would be "free, fair and credible" just as PM Chamberlain assured the British "Peace for our time". When Hitler shatter the Chamberlain's illusionary peace the British people ditched the dreamer to fight a bitter war before there was peace. We are did not have free and fair elections in 2013 and are now paying dearly for having listened to Tsvangirai. It is sheer folly for this nation to once again believe MDC leaders' promise of free and fair elections when we know they have still not implemented even one demo-cratic reform!
"Unlike 2008, the Zanu-PF Party is completely fractured into at least 4 factions. It cannot be put back together in any sort of semblance of what it has been and no reconciliation is possible. The opposition is no less fractured and comprises over 30 Parties. Who is who in the Zoo can only be determined by an election," acknowledged MP Cross.
"Major figures in the Parties do not want an election because they well know that they could not win an election that is run on the basis of the SADC rules for democratic elections."
Wrong the 2013 elections were not run on the basis of the SADC rules; SADC reminded MDC to im-plement the democratic reforms but you lot would not listen.
The solution to Zimbabwe's economic and political paralysis is simple Zimbabwe; implement all the democratic reforms MDC failed to implement during the GNU designed to stop Zanu-PF rigging elections but most important of all designed to end the stifling of meaningful debate and democratic competition. For it is the free debate and democratic competition that will separate the wheat from the chuff.
We are not interested in sorting out "who is who in Zimbabwe's political zoo" but in in getting rid of the tyrants and the thugs and all those who have made a career of appeasing tyrants that is why we want not just any elections but specifically free, fair and credible elections.
--------------
Wilbert Mukori <zimbabwesocialdemocrats@gmail.com
Source - zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk
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