Saturday 1 September 2018

EU "encourage but not involved" in Zanu PF/MDC GNU talks - all to avoid accepting false start N Garikai


The European Union says it is not involved in talks to bring Zanu PF and MDC Alliance together to form a government of national unity (GNU). Many western nations know that Zanu PF blatantly rigged the elections but instead of declaring the election process null and void and pressure the junta to accept meaningful reforms; they want a halfway house. The GNU is that halfway house. The EU and UK were reportedly talking with both Zanu PF and MDC to form the GNU.

“As EU delegation, we are not involved in such negotiations, if there are any. Nevertheless, we encourage inclusive dialogue,” said EU embassy official, Thomas van Handel.

The EU or anyone for that matter would encourage the dialogue, inclusive or whatever, as long as it serves a useful purpose.

The last GNU was tasked to implement the democratic reforms to ensure future elections will be free, fair and credible and it completely failed. The last GNU was under the auspices of SADC whose leaders did try to get MDC leaders to implement the reforms.

This new GNU will just be a Zanu PF government with an MDC window dressing. In other words, a complete waste of time!  

Zimbabwe is stuck in this seemingly intractable economic mess and political paralysis because for the last 38 years it has failed to hold free, fair and credible elections, the pre-requisite for good and accountable government.

Following last November’s military coup, President Mnangagwa promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. Whether he genuinely realised the critical importance of free and fair elections as the pre-requisite for meaningful national progress is academic, what mattered then was that he made that promise. What matters now is that he failed to keep his promise.

Even President Mnangagwa himself accepts that the elections were not free, fair and credible. Whereas before he has openly talked of elections being “free, fair, credible and peaceful”. Since the elections he has confined himself to the elections being peaceful, no doubt aware that he has rigged the elections and therefore they could not be free, fair and credible.

If we genuinely accept that free, fair and credible elections is the pre-requisite for good governance and that Zimbabwe has been stuck in this hell-hole because it has made a false start by having rigged elections then we must also accept that these rigged elections is yet another false start.

It is utterly, utterly pointless for us to soldier on and run the full five year lap in a race we already know is a false start!

The only logic way forward for Zimbabwe is to accept Zanu PF failed to hold free, fair and credible elections and ask President Mnangagwa and his friends to step aside to allow the appointment of an interim administration that will implement the democratic reforms and hold the country’s very FIRST free, fair and credible elections.

So the only dialogue anyone out there should have with President Mnangagwa and his junta is that they failed to hold free, fair and credible elections, their government is, per se, a false start and they must not step aside. They refusal to do so will only be seen for what it is an attempt to hold the nation to ransom. And no nation in its right mind will ever tolerate that!  

9 comments:

  1. ZIMBABWE has again expressed interest in rejoining the Commonwealth after it sent a parliamentary delegation led by Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda to lobby for readmission at the 49th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Conference held in Gaborone, Botswana, last week.

    This Zanu PF junta certainly think it can have its cake and keep it too! First it staged a military coup and said it was "military assisted transition". Now it has just blatantly rigged the elections and wants to claim that they were free, fair and credible!

    This Zanu PF dictatorship is on its last leg and the ordinary people in Zimbabwe would want to see all the member states of the Commonwealth to condemn these flawed and illegal elections and side with the long suffering povo in calling for meaningful democratic change in Zimbabwe. If the Commonwealth betray us in the hour of our struggle then when change finally come then Zimbabwe will have review its continued membership.

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  2. I agree, the elections were rigged and no western nation or organisation has so far tried to deny this historic fact. President Mnangagwa himself has been very careful and talked of "peaceful" elections, careful not to mention "free, fair and credible" fearful of being taken to task on these points. If these nation agree the elections were rigged, one must then ask what they are hoping to accomplish in getting Zanu PF and MDC to form a GNU? What for?

    The new GNU not be a democratic government but rather a Zanu PF dictatorship with a dusting of corrupt and incompetent MDC leaders. The foreign investors were not fooled by the 2008 to 2013 GNU they will not be fooled by this one either.

    The new GNU will never implement any meaningful democratic reforms, if they failed to get even one reform implemented with SADC looking over their shoulders, what hope now!

    Zimbabwe is in this seemingly intractable mess because it has failed to deal with the problem of Zanu PF rigging elections. This proposed GNU is just an excuse for letting Zanu PF get away with yet another rigged election! With each pass year and wasted opportunity the task of stopping vote rigging has become that much harder.

    We want to end the culture of rigged elections and not to perpetuate! Those who do not wish to help they are free to stay out. What we will not tolerate are those nations who involvement is to make our struggle even harder! To those nations we say fcuk off!

    If you think we are going to let you ride roughshod over our hopes and dreams quitely then think again! We have everything to lose in letting Zanu PF get away with another rig elections and will fight to the last breath and last man!

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  3. THE INAUGURATION on Sunday of Zimbabwe's new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, marked the end of a chaotic and disputed electoral period, but it failed to yield the "new Zimbabwe" he had promised. Mr. Mnangagwa has lost an important opportunity to pull Zimbabwe back from economic and political destitution, where it was left at the conclusion of Robert Mugabe's long misrule. The country deserves better, much better.

    Following the military coup President Mnangagwa and his junta promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. This was a bridge too far, no one seriously expected the junta that had risked all to wrestle power from its previous lord and master, Mugabe, to risk losing it eight months later in a free and fair elections. The junta was going to rig the elections, especially when it was the one that had rigged elections for Mugabe and Zanu PF in the past.

    It must be stated that Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends were naïve to agree to participate in the elections with no democratic reforms in place. They were warned that Zanu PF would rig the elections but paid no heed. MDC participated in the elections even though there was no verified voters' roll; how naïve is that!

    Zanu PF blatantly rigged these elections and the western country must now stand and declare these elections null and void and step up the pressure on the regime to step aside and allow the appointment of an interim administration that will implement the reforms and hold free and fair elections.

    The only hope of Zimbabwe getting out of the mess is for the country to end the culture of rigged elections.

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  4. It is very disappointing that Congresswoman Bass failed to notice that most of the rural voters are nothing more than serfs and that multiple voting was a very common thing. There was no verified voters' roll, etc. How anyone failed to pick these things beggars belief!

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  5. Germany must be careful here because it will find itself on the wrong side of history by backing a vote rigging dictatorship.

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  6. Every new regime believes it is special, the new broom that will sweep clean.
    Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says it will no longer be business as usual for the "comrades" who will be joining the new government as it moves with speed to implement the programmes that were being sold by the ruling party during its campaigns in the harmonised elections.
    He was speaking to local and international journalists on his immediate task, soon after the swearing in ceremony at State House in Harare today.
    He is forgetting that he, VP Mohadi and President Mnangagwa himself are all part and parcel of the rot and decay of yesteryears. Of course it is going to be business as usual; he and his fellow presidium are the epitome of the old guard there to ensure nothing changes.
    Indeed the junta has already put out a big marker that it is business as usual by rigging the elections! That spoke volumes of the sheer arrogance of the regime, they are the Mr-Know-It-All!

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  7. Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs if you do not understand that then you have not understood anything.

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  8. Cut the crap and tell us why you refused to listen not to take part in these elections with no reforms?

    "Tsvangirai was stupid to take part in the 2013 elections with no verified voters' roll! I will not make the same mistake!" you said, Mr Chamisa. ZEC never produced a verified voters' roll and still you and your fellow MDC friends still participated.

    Do you know that by participating in these flawed and illegal elections you gave the process credibility?

    The very least you can do now Mr Chamisa is just retire from all public life for life! Just fcuk off!

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  9. @Bruce Chauke

    "Then you should focus on your wife over the night."

    Some people will view you comment as cynical to say the least. With unemployment at 90% and 75% of the population living on US$1.00 a day or less there must be many men and women out there who are focused on the partners 24/7 but on an empty stomach, they must be worried sick of their miserable life!

    It is heartening that there are a few Zimbabweans out there who are now beginning to question why the country is in such a mess and demanding that every Zimbabweans be given a meaningful say in the governance of the country. End this foolish notion that there are some individuals who have the divine right to govern the country and the country can finally focus on the task of rebuilding the country and a better life for all and not just the filthy rich few!

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