I
have read some good article and some bad articles, this is one of the best I
have read in many moons!
“The
MDC Alliance has been frothing at the mouth before, during and after the polls,
stating in no uncertain terms that the electoral playing field was not level -
and justifiably so,” reported Newsday.
“But by participating in a flawed electoral process, the party might have shot itself in the foot although this may not right what is patently wrong.”
“But by participating in a flawed electoral process, the party might have shot itself in the foot although this may not right what is patently wrong.”
Zimbabweans
must not be fooled by MDC Alliance “frothing at the mouth” about the political
playing field not being level, after all these MDC leaders have known about
Zanu PF rigging the elections, were warned a thousand times about it. Still
they chose to participate in the elections.
Indeed,
during the GNU MDC leaders had the golden opportunity to implement the
democratic reforms and stop the rigging once and once for all. They failed to
get even one reform implemented in five years.
Yes
Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and the rest of the MDC leaders “have formed and
frothed at the mouth,” nose and every other orifice about “Zanu PF stealing
elections”, especially soon after the elections (before the elections they have
claimed to have “stringent measures to stop the rigging). But it is all
theatrical farce. “Jema rewadya!” as one would say in Shona.
MDC
leaders have been participating in these flawed elections knowing Zanu PF will
rig the vote and win their landslide victory, they still participated
regardless because they also knew Zanu PF would be giving away a few gravy
train seats, bribe for participating. It is these bait seats they have been
after as Senator David Coltart admitted in his book.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a
coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the
elections,” explained Senator Coltart.
“The 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.”
Tendai
Biti and 64 other MDC leaders are back in parliament, Zanu PF has its landslide
144 MPs, and a corresponding number of MDC Alliance leaders, including Senator David
Coltart, are in the senate. They are gloriously happy they back on the gravy
train. They will mourn the loudest about the “stolen elections” but, as we
know, it is all part of the deceitful act.
The
MDC Alliance is challenging the presidential election results which ZEC says
Zanu PF’s President Mnangagwa won with a razor thin margin of 0.8% or 38 000
votes, to avoid a rin-off.
“It
is grossly unfair and unfortunate that the whole nation is now placing its
hopes on the Con-Court to end what is essentially a political problem,”
commented Newsday.
“Regrettably, the judgment - no matter how competent and just it would be - will not end the crisis before us.
“Regrettably, the judgment - no matter how competent and just it would be - will not end the crisis before us.
“The
history to what has gotten Zimbabwe to this perilous state is well-documented.
“It has its roots in an unjust political system inherited from the former colonial masters and perfected by former president Robert Mugabe in order to retain power at all cost, damn the consequences.”
“It has its roots in an unjust political system inherited from the former colonial masters and perfected by former president Robert Mugabe in order to retain power at all cost, damn the consequences.”
Newsday
reporter is spot-on; the court will, at best, hand Chamisa the presidency another
MDC leader back on the gravy train but what good will that be to the nation. What
can Chamisa ever accomplish faced with Zanu PF controlled parliament, senate,
civil service, security services, etc.? The last thing the nation wants is to
have months or years of a totally dysfunction government and at the end of it
hold flawed elections again because no democratic reforms were implemented.
The
most important task before us today is to dismantle the “unjust political
system” Mugabe and Zanu PF fostered on the nation which MDC leaders are helping
to keep alive by participating in the elections regardless how flawed the
process.
If there are 40 000 more ballots cast in the presidential race then in the parliamentary race when each voter was supposed to get a ballot for each of the races then this is something that should have been picked up at each polling station and on the respective V11 form. If the figures on the V11 forms were correct then ZEC must explain where they got their figures?
ReplyDeleteWhat many people will find annoying is why MDC has not been forthcoming with this information until now!!!
The point about there being more than 100% voter turnout is a valid point but with no verified voters' roll ZEC can always claim that there figures used were based on an earlier voters' roll and not the one used on voting day. MDC were foolish to go into these elections without something as basic as a voters' roll.
These elections were rigged and MDC should have never agreed to go into these elections without first implementing the democratic reforms. Even if Chamisa was given the presidency this will not change the fact that these elections were rigged.
The best way forward is for these elections to be declared null and void. This would clear the way for the appointment of an interim administration that will then be tasked to implement the democratic reforms clearing the way for the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
Eddie Cross retire from politics and MDC
ReplyDeleteGood ridance of a mediocre MDC leader! The nation will always remember Mr Eddie Cross as one of the MDC leaders who failed to get even one reform implemented in five years of the GNU!
Con-Court set to hear Chamisa's appeal next Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteEven if Chamisa was declared the winner, the fact still remains that these were not free, fair and credible elections and per se must be declared null and void. This will clear the deck to allow the appointment of a interim administration that will implement the democratic reforms and clear the way for the holding of free, fair and credible elections.
A government with Chamisa president and everything else controlled by Zanu PF will be a waste of time, space and treasure because it will never accomplish anything. Worst of all, when the Zanu PF thugs have done enough to entrap the egotistic Chamisa they will empeach and boot him out of office and the nation will hold elections under the same flawed conditions as existing now.
What the country needs right now is to make a clean break with the rooten past. Declare these elections null and void and this will clear the way for the appointment of a interim administration that will be tasked to implement the reforms and hold fresh and the nation's first free, fair and credible elections!
Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends have promised the nation democratic changes, as their party name promised. The people have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power on the understanding they will deliver the changes. In all their nearly 20 years on the political centre stage and the many golden opportunities to deliver change MDC have failed to deliver even one change.
ReplyDeleteThe people of Zimbabwe have been miserably slow in realising that MDC leaders are corrupt, incompetent and have sold-out big time. Even with all the evidence of the failure to implement even one reform during the GNU, many Zimbabweans continue to follow MDC blindly like sheep to the slaughter.
Indeed, the country is in this economic and political mess because we, the people, have allowed Mugabe and his Zanu PF ride roughshod over our freedoms and basic human rights for decades. It took 20 years or so for many of us to finally accept that Zanu PF was a party of corrupt and ruthless thugs and to demand democratic change.
A healthy and functional democracy demand a vigilant and alert electorate, not naïve and gullible sheep. As long as the people of Zimbabwe remain the naïve and gullible sheep there will never be any meaningful change, right now MDC and Zanu PF struck up a working relationship.
Zanu PF will rig the elections and get the lion's share of the spoils of power. MDC leaders will help Zanu PF get away with this by pretending to the sheep that they are going to deliver the democratic change everyone agrees is necessary for any meaningful economic and political change. Zanu PF will reward the MDC leaders by allowing then to win some of the gravy train seats.
As long as the people continue to believe the MDC leaders' lies the situation will not change. In the long run, people always get the government they deserve. After 38 years of independence we, in Zimbabwe, certain deserve this de facto Zanu PF dictatorship complete with its entourage of MDC factions and a multitude of other opposition parties.
@ Clevers Moyo
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe is in this economic and political mess because the country has more than its fair share of naïve and gullible people - a real curse to a healthy and functional democracy. You are just one such curse to the nation.
"I think its wrong to say MDC should have implemented electoral reforms. How? Was it a gvt on its own? The fact that it was a party to a GNU doesn't mean it should have implement electoral reforms. The other partner in GNU is still the same partner who is refusing to implement electoral reforms. There is absolutely no ways in which MDC alone could have implemented the reforms," you say.
So even now, with the mountain of information of what the GNU was, who was supposed to do what and when, all evidence of how MDC leaders sold-out, etc., etc.; you are still asking the same stupid questions, defending MDC leaders, etc. You are naïve, gullible and stupid alright! One is saying this not to insult you but merely to state an important historic fact.
With an electorate this naïve, gullible and stupid it is clear why Zimbabwe's descend into this economic and political hell-on-earth has been rapid and certain. Judging from your foolish comments there is no reason to believe the nation is ever going to get out of this hell!
"There is absolutely no ways in which MDC alone could have implemented the reforms!" So why are you risking life and limb election these individuals if you are absolutely certain they will not change anything?
@ Khawulani Sibanda
ReplyDelete"If MDC does not participate in elections, ZANU-PF will go it alone, they have done it before, remember the 2008 rerun, Mugabe ran alone, so what is this noise about MDC participating in elections without reforms? Diasporans, if you do not like ZANU-PF, simply come and vote, your vote will count," you say.
This argument that if the opposition do not participate in flawed elections Zanu PF will go it alone and win is a fallacious one. Only narrow minded people would not see the sheer stupidity of it all. The 2008 elections showed us all that elections in Zimbabwe have become so flawed it is impossible for Zanu PF to rig the vote and lose the elections.
Tsvangirai won 73% of the vote in the March elections, by Mugabe's own Freudian Slip, and after six weeks of cooking up the figures the regime whittled this down to 47%, to force a run-off. During the run-off the regime used wanton violence to turn Mugabe's 27% defeat into a massive 84% landslide victory. It is impossible for Zanu PF to rig the vote and lose the elections. IMPOSSIBLE! QED
And here is fallacy of your argument; you want the opposition to participate in the flawed elections, elections in which Zanu PF has the licence to rig the vote, "or Zanu PF will go alone and win". We have already proven above that it is IMPOSSIBLE for Zanu PF to rig the vote and lose the elections and the election results of 2013 and 2018 confirm this.
MDC's participating in these flawed elections will not stop Zanu PF winning with the usual landslide. Zanu PF is very pleased to see MDC participate because by participating MDC are giving the flawed process credibility. Sure MDC are being rewarded by being allowed to win a few gravy train seats, hence the reason the likes of Tendai Biti are very pleased with these elections. Very pleased indeed!
@ Livingstone Mereka
ReplyDelete"Why don't you go ahead and dismantle the system quietly instead of frothing at the mouth and accusing the MDC of failing to implement changes during Mugabe's reign?" you say.
Are you saying that MDC leaders implemented the reforms and they are being falsely accused of doing so? If that is what you are saying then please tell us which reforms the implemented and why the nation is still talking of reforms?
Otherwise, MDC leaders are in public office and they failed to carry out the tasks the people elected them; not you, me or anyone else out there; to carry out. It is right and proper that they are held to account for selling-out.
Many people risked life and limb to elect these MDC leaders into power on the promise that they will bring about the democratic changes and they have not only failed to do so but sold-out for thirty pieces of silver. Worse still, they continue to sell-out the nation promise the people that the elections will be free, fair and credible because "MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the election!" Now it turns out that they were lying. Someone must hold these corrupt, incompetent and sell-out MDC leaders to account.
Millions of Zimbabweans are suffering today because Zimbabwe is stuck in this economic and political mess because MDC leaders sold-out. If you were one of the 90% out of work or 75% living on US$1.00 a day then you would very good reason to be frothing with rage at these sell-outs How ironic that you are frothing defending the sell-outs. Are you doing so because you are one of the sell-out or you too are a victim of the MDC leaders' betrayal but are too stupid to realise what happened!
The opposition went into these with no clean and verified voters' roll and so they accepted there was voters' roll. So the argument that more people voted than were on the voters' roll begs the question which voters' roll was being used.
ReplyDeleteThe opposition should have never agreed to take part in the election without something as basic as a voters' roll!
By participating in these elections with no reforms in place the opposition gave credibility to those flawed elections. There was nothing new for us to learn from taking part in these elections after the 2008 election.
The opposition took part in these elections out of greed, they knew Zanu PF will give away some gravy train seats and that is what they were after. For the presidential candidate, they just wanted a few weeks on the limelight. Noah Manyika has his day in the sun and, no doubt, hopes the sun will last a lot longer!
Zanu PF has always counted on the opposition to participate in these elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process got. President Mnangagwa and and the junta appreciate your patronage Mr Noah Manyika! Millions of ordinary Zimbabweans now face the prospect of another five years of this corrupt and oppressive Zanu PF dictatorship. Meanwhile you will join the opposition camp and pay lip service to reforms only to participate in the next elections for exactly the same reason you did this year -greed!
@ Johannes Mufakose
ReplyDelete"Not wise, participate to expose the gaps. The analysis too shallow."
Nonsense! What new "gaps" were exposed in this year's elections that we did not already know especially after the barbarism of the 2008 elections?
MDC leaders like Chamisa, Biti, etc. are taking advantage of many people who, out of ignorance and desperation for change, believed that the opposition can win rigged elections. The MDC leaders themselves knew that was not going to happen, they knew, with no reforms Zanu PF would rig and win the elections. They still wanted to participate because they also knew Zanu PF will be giving away a few gravy train seats.
Tendai Biti and a few opposition members got these few gravy train seats and that is all they care about. They will never admit that by participating they gave credibility to the flawed and illegal election process. It does not matter how flawed and illegal the election process gets people like Tendai Biti will take part in the elections.
President Mnangagwa and his junta can point to Tendai Biti and others as proof of how strong and vibrant Zimbabwe's democracy is.
@ Vincent Ndlovu
ReplyDelete"It is disheartening to listen to people who claim to be reformists singing the same old and tired song of the MDC having supposed to implement reforms during the GNU and worse still talking about dismantling the ZANU PF system without offering how it should be done other than those who are trying are doing," you say.
What is disheartening is MDC leaders who do not want to acknowledge that they sold-out on reforms during the GNU and are taking advantage of the naïve and gullible people who have no clue what is happening to get back on the gravy train promising things they know they will never deliver. "MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging elections!" Chamisa promised knowing fully well that was just hot air.
MDC leaders are promising to dismantle Zanu PF when they are not doing any such thing. By participating in these flawed and illegal elections MDC leaders like Tendai Biti are giving credibility to process and thus helping to perpetuate the Zanu PF dictatorship.
I feel sorry for ordinary Zimbabwe who have been totally brainwashed into believing whatever the politicians say and do, no questioned asked. There are thousands of such fools who have no clue what the GNU was about much less that MDC leaders sold-out even now with the benefit of hindsight. We have more than our fair share of naïve and gullible voters and hence the reason Zimbabwe has sunk this low this fast into this economic and political hell-hole. And, what is worse, the nation will never ever get out of the hole as long as so many people remain in the sloth-like mental slumber.
"The question that needs to be answered at the moment is how to overcome the challenge that we have as a nation and not to sit in our comfort zones and talk about what should have been done. The Zimbabwe crisis is now beyond the ZANU PF vs MDC mantra, it needs men and women who will stretch their minds beyond partisan politics and come up with ideas to help both ZANU PF and the MDC to realise that democracy is not about elections and neither is it the panacea to all our problems. The country needs sober minds unclouded with party slogans and indoctrination. This blame game we seem to have been trapped in will not take us anywhere as a people," you say.
If you do not understand what you did wrong, how will you stop repeating the same mistake over and over again? That is exactly what we are talking about here, Zanu PF has remained in power for 38 years by rigging elections. MDC leaders had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms and stop the rigged. They did not only sell-out on reforms but worse still we are not allowed to talk about; be accused of playing the "blame game" if you do. The idiots are paying lip service to implementing reforms and again no one is allowed to question it because that will "partisan politics"! All utter nonsense of course!
Just for the record, thank God there is a growing number of Zimbabwean who refuse to follow leaders slavish and will not take orders from a self-appointed intellectual with very little working grey stuff between his/her ears!
@ Daily News
ReplyDelete"Until the 11th hour, we had thought that, as Zimbabweans, we had matured politically and that this election would dodge the cycle of electoral contentions synonymous with most outcomes of past polls.
"We had hoped that the 2018 harmonised elections would be a departure from the Robert Mugabe era of political violence, harassment, intimidation and that Zimbabweans would complete this process peacefully and credibly.
"Indeed, everyone including the international world was prayerful that Zimbabweans had opened a new leaf, politically, and was ready to ignite a culture of tolerance among supporters of various opposing political parties."
Just for the record, none of the international elections were going to judge Zimbabwe's elections free, fair and credible on the basis of no "political violence, harassment and intimidation" even if the street protests and shootings of 1st August had never happened. There is a lot more to free and fair elections than just the absence of violence. There was no free public media, ZEC failed to produce a clean and verified voters' roll, Zanu PF robbed the nation blind to bankroll its vote rigging schemes; 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote, etc.
People have often complained about how patronising some outsiders are because they would pass things they would never allow in their own country so they can judge our elections free and fair. The real tragedy is that we are often guilty of lowering the standards ourselves. How has ever heard of free, fair and credible elections where the authorities have failed to produce something as basic as a clean and verified voters' roll!
What is at stake at this SADC summit is, obvious the recent elections in Zimbabwe, the upcoming elections in the DRC, Madagascar and South Africa.
ReplyDeleteSADC election observers in Zimbabwe said the Zimbabwe elections were free, fair and credible although there were glaring and serious irregularities such as the lack of a free public media, failure to produce something as basic as a clean and verified voters' roll, denying 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote, Zanu PF robbing the nation blind to bankroll its vote rigging schemes, etc. SADC observers went to town about the elections being peaceful compared to say 2008 as if little else mattered.
Before the ink on the SADC report was dry, there was the street protests in Harare followed by the shooting of six civilians by the Army; a stern remind that even the peace could be guaranteed in Zimbabwe's highly volatile political reality.
SADC leaders will be left looking very foolish if all the other international election observers condemn Zimbabwe's elections are having failed to meet acceptable standards for free, fair and credible elections. They regional leaders will have more than egg on their faces if Zimbabwe's economic mess should get worse and the country become even more unstable.
Now that SADC leaders have agreed to lower the standard for free and fair elections to free of violence there is no doubt that there are going to be fewer and fewer truly free, fair and credible elections in the region! If the ordinary people in the region thought Zimbabwe's problem of failing to hold free and fair elections was none of their business, now they will learn the hard way that it is.
A top government official says Zimbabweans should be guided by the culture of Ubuntu which is embedded on love, peace and harmony saying elections are not war and as such people should be able to move forward in oneness for development to take place.
ReplyDeleteThis is rich coming from the party that has just rigged the elections blatantly denying the ordinary people a meaningful say in the governance of the country so the regime's ruling elite can continue to loot the nation's resources. When is the culture of Ubuntu in the few filth rich living in obscene luxury whilst the overwhelming majority are force to live in grinding poverty and hopeless despair.
Zanu PF ruling elite are aware of the chasm that has opened between the rich and poor in the country and they are concerned about the growing restless of the impoverished majority who anger and frustration with their lot is now a pressure cooker the ruling elite are fearful will explode in their faces.
Minister Mpofu, people want jobs, clean running water, working health care services, etc. and all this Ubuntu appeasement is only inflaming them because they can see the sheer hypocrisy behind it all. You rig elections so you can continue to loot the nation blind and you want the victims to say nothing about the glaring injustice of it all in the name of keeping the peace and Ubuntu culture. How convenient!
Roman poet Horatio,- "It is sweet and honourable to die for the fatherland."
ReplyDeleteWhen nation has been asked to honour those who risk life and limb for freedom, liberty, justice, human rights, one-person one-vote, etc. and has done so. It is most disheartening to then find that yesteryear's liberators have become today's oppressors deny the ordinary man, woman and child their freedom, liberty, etc., etc.
Zimbabwe has just gone through an election process and no one can ever claim the election was free, fair and credible. How can that be possible when the authorities failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll. The ruling elite claimed victory but cannot say who exactly voted for them!
The nation endured so many hardship and so many lives were lost during the war of independence it is really depressing that by right another war should have started after independence because the overwhelming majority of our people never even tasted any of the things independence promised! Dying for common cause is one thing; dying for a tyrant and his cronies is a different proposition, it is a curse for which there can never be RIP!
@ Maoda Daniels
ReplyDelete"Wilbert Mukori How can one player refuse to play while others are ready to fulfil the mandate you must see with open eyes and read situation with open mind they do this thinking MDC will fail to participate the elections that was the main aim," you say.
You are not saying anything new or original. After MDC leaders sold-out big time by failing to implement even one reform during the GNU; Robert Mugabe knew Tsvangirai and company will never boycott the elections no matter how flawed and illegal the process got as long as Zanu PF dangled a few gravy train seats in MDC leaders' faces. David Coltart is one of the MDC leaders who have admitted this.
"The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious - withdraw from the elections," explained Senator Coltart.
"The 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."
If you ever get a chance to read his book, you will see why he must have agonised over this admission but in the end he had no choice because it there was no running away from the fact that greed got the better of them.
To argue that MDC must participate in flawed elections giving the process credibility just because if they do not someone will, is stupid because why would Zanu PF ever accept holding free and fair elections if they know they will get away with rigged elections? It is not for MDC to give Zanu PF the excuse for rigging the elections, at least do so under the pretext they are doing the ordinary Zimbabwean a favour!
The MDC and all those participating in flawed and illegal elections are after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is offering as bait, they are selling-out, pure and simple!