"THE MDC has identified 20 election principles which it wants to be incorporated into the electoral reform agenda and the proposed Electoral Bill ahead of the 2023 elections," reported Daily News.
"The new Act should criminalise coercion and undue influence on the freedoms and electoral persuasions of the electorate by influential persons and institutions," reads the MDC document..
"In developing these principles on elections, a review of best practices by other countries is taken into account, as well as recommendations from organisations focusing on elections and Election Observer Missions accredited to Zimbabwe during the 2018 elections, the Sadc Model Law on Elections, AU and UN protocols guiding democratic elections were also considered."
This is just another one of MDC’s time wasting antics which will do nothing to stop Zanu PF rigging the next elections and we will back where we are today, stuck with the vote rigging Zanu PF regime. How can I be so certain this, one might well ask?
Ask yourself the following three questions:
- If MDC know these 20 reforms were necessary for free, fair and credible elections then why did the party fail to get even one reform implemented these last 20 years, especially during the 2008 GNU when the party had the backing of SADC?
- Why has MDC participated in elections in 2013 and then 2018 knowing fully well that without the reforms in place Zanu PF would rig the elections? David Coltart has confessed why MDC leaders has participated in flawed and illegal elections - greed. There is nothing to suggest MDC leaders will not participate in the next election even if none of their proposed reforms see the light of day; they are as greedy now as ever.
- MDC are counting on the present parliament in which Zanu PF has 2/3 majority to implement the reforms designed to end the party’s carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections and stay in power. Why would Zanu PF ever agree to reform itself out of office?
All the election observers of the July 2018 elections, with democratic any credentials worth a spit, dismissed the Zimbabwe elections as a farce.
“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the EU Election Mission final report.
“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”
ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll; for Pete’s sake!
Note, the EU report was talking about the parliamentary race as well as the presidential race, these were harmonised elections. They condemned both races because the process that “failed to meet international standards" was one and the same process. Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends have rejected the presidential result but accept the parliamentary result; this is cherry picking.
The only sure way to get the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections finally implemented is by appointing an independent body to do it. Both President Mnangagwa and his equally illegitimate Zanu PF parliament must step down to create the political space for the independent body.
To get both Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF parliament to step down demanded a consensus condemnation of the July 2018 elections. By cherry picking, MDC undermined the call for the Zanu PF government to step down.
Worse still, the MDC half-way house position of the Zanu PF presidency and cabinet being declared illegitimate and therefore subjected to so power sharing arrangement between Zanu PF and MDC will not deliver the reforms. A Zanu PF 2/3 parliamentary majority will never ever approve meaningful democratic reforms, as stated above.
Zimbabwe has failed to hold free, fair and credible elections these last 40 years and counting not because Zanu PF and MDC leaders did not know the 20 reforms MDC has now produced. Even if they did not, the 2008 Global Political Agreement spelt out the raft of reforms the two parties were tasked to implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They failed to get even one reform implemented because they lacked the political will to implement the reforms. Period!
For the last 40 years, the people of Zimbabwe have been denied their basic freedoms and rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections and even the right to life itself. They have been stuck with corrupt and tyrannical regime all these years and have paid dearly for it. Whatever these people had done wrong to deserve this tyrannical government, they have paid for it thousand fold.
All the people of Zimbabwe are asking of you, me and all those in a position to help is that an independent body, with the political will, should be appointed to implement the reforms and not yet another Zanu PF led gimmick. That is not too much to ask!
According to the statistics, water level in the Kariba Dam was at 476,75 metres translating to 8,64 percent of the dam capacity on Thursday last week.
ReplyDeleteThe water level was 1,25 metres above the minimum 475,50m recommended for power generation.
“The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475,50m and 488,50m (with 0,70m freeboard) for hydro-power generation. The lake level has been decreasing due to reduced rainfall activities around and on the lake to close the period under review at 476,75m (8,64 percent usable storage) on 30 January 2020. Last year on the same date, the lake level was 481,73m (44,83 percent usable storage),” Zambezi River Authority said in the update.
Zimbabwe has failed to invest in any new generation capacity for the last forty, ever since the country gain her independence. Millions if not billions of dollars have been poured into building mansions, buying posh cars and other luxuries for ruling elite and now the nation is paying dearly for the folly!
“Zimbabwe needs a new liberation and a new independence and the breaking barriers initiative, the broad church of united citizens who will mobilise and prosecute the five key fights laid out by President Nelson Chamisa in his address to the nation,” MDC Deputy National Spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said after the meeting.
ReplyDelete“These battles include the fight for a true people’s government, fight against corruption, fight for a better life, fight for rights, freedoms, to secure citizen security as well as a national fight to defend the national Constitution.”
MDC leaders had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms which would have ended the curse of rigged elections during the GNU. They failed to implement even one meaningful reform in five years. Ever since they have been participating in flawed and illegal elections out of greed.
MDC is hoping to hoodwink the Zimbabwe public into believing the party is going to implement the democratic reforms this time just to waste time. As the 2023 elections approach the party will abandon reforms as a lost cause and participate in yet another flawed and illegal election process knowing fully well that they are short changing the ordinary people who are stuck with the Zanu PF dictatorship.
We do not need to fight “a new liberation war”! What we need is political leaders with the political will to implement the democratic reforms and deliver free, fair and credible elections!
Zimbabwe is facing some very serious economic challenges and these challenges have affected us all, student, teach and parents. The school results must reflect these economic challenges but we are being told this is not so! I agree with Mutambara, there is something wrong with our O and A level results!
ReplyDeleteMDC-A leader Nelson Chamisa is set to launch an operation targeting errant parliamentarians from his party for failing to engage the electorate or initiate projects in their constituencies.
ReplyDeleteThe party's legislators have been accused of neglecting their constituencies and this contributed to their massive loss in the last general election in 2018 and by-elections that were held last year.
Chamisa is talking about the 20 red-line reforms MDC wants implemented before the 2023 elections just as a gimmick to impress the Americans and others who have been demanding democratic reforms. He has even made it a point to mention the western democratic demands.
"In developing these principles on elections, a review of best practices by other countries is taken into account, as well as recommendations from organisations focusing on elections and Election Observer Missions accredited to Zimbabwe during the 2018 elections, the Sadc Model Law on Elections, AU and UN protocols guiding democratic elections were also considered,” reads a recent MDC statement.
The truth is he knows none of the reforms will ever see the light of day especially as he is asking the Zanu PF control parliament to implement the reforms. Chamisa is going full steam ahead in preparing to contest the 2023 elections even with not one reform in place!
If we are serious about the next elections being free, fair and credible then we must appoint an independent body to implement the reforms and not this Zanu PF and MDC GNU gimmick!
No democratic reforms will ever see the light of day especially when MDC is asking the Zanu PF control parliament to pass these reforms. MDC has participated in elections with no reforms in place since the 2013 elections, the party is going to go so again in 2023; if we let them. We will not let that happen!
ReplyDeleteIt is my humble desire and cherished pledge to build, create and lead a New Zimbabwe before I ultimately retire from active public life. I have this strong vision and drive to make Zimbabwe great. We will make Zimbabwe a powerful, successful and wonderful nation.
ReplyDeleteBut I have a confession to make ..I am a perfectionist.I’m difficult to please.I even hardly please and satisfy myself. I keep trying to be better.Excellence is my goal. I carry this infinite craving for knowledge and insatiable curiosity for wisdom. I love learning and books. I cherish knowledge, information and education. I love the Bible and the word of God. I love peace and bringing people together. I love gathering rather than scattering. I cherish uniting.
We must redouble our efforts to dismantle this corrupt and oppressive de facto one-party Zanu PF dictatorship, it has stifled all meaningful debate and democratic competition. Zimbabwe has become a stagnant political swamp deprived of oxygen and so instead of fish and other marine life all we have is frogs and crocodiles and the overpowering stench.
Zimbabwe is stuck with the corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous Zanu PF thugs, the crocodiles, for 40 years now. And for the last 20 years, the country has been equally stuck with the equally corrupt and incompetent MDC opposition, the frogs!
The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends into power on the promise the party will deliver the democratic changes the nation has been dying for. They have failed to deliver even one democratic reform/change in 20 years. And Chamisa has the chic to claim himself “a perfectionist”!
Zimbabwe has embassy staff in China and they should be at the forefront in making sure every Zimbabwean in China is given all the support they need. Flying the Zimbabweans back home is not an option given the chaotic state of Zimbabwe's public health services.
ReplyDeleteWe should not forget that for decades now, Zimbabwe's ruling elite have been relying on SA, India, China, Singapore, etc. precisely because our health service was all but dead. If we fly any one back home then we will have to fly them to SA, India or even back to China is they have the corona virus!
The corona virus scar is just yet another reminder to the nation why we must redouble our efforts to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs this country will continue to sink deeper and deeper into this man made hell-on-earth!
SCHOOLS in Hwange and Victoria Falls are reportedly demanding an extra US$1 from each learner per week for teachers to attend class despite the learners having paid fees in full.
ReplyDeleteThe development which authorities say is illegal and an extortion of parents, resembles the banned extra lessons and is reportedly happening in most primary schools with parents divided over the issue.
The parents of these students are as much victims of the failed Zanu PF government as the teachers themselves. Where do these teachers expect these parents, 90% of whom are unemployed, to get the US$1 per week from if the teachers, in full time employment, cannot get it?
The teachers, doctors, nurses and all the other professionals in Zimbabwe have refused to accept that the root cause of the country’s worsening economic situation is the curse of rigged elections and bad governance and hence they have done nothing about it. The result is 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical run and the resultant economic meltdown. Even now with the country in total economic meltdown, these professionals continue to bury their heads in the sand.
When those better off prey on the fellow victims even more worse off than then is a clear sign of a sick mind and very sick society!
These who will not learn from their past mistakes are destined to repeat the mistakes ad infinitum until they learn!
This comes as the European Union (EU), the United States of America (USA) and the church in Zimbabwe — among others — have implored President Emmerson Mnangagwa to engage Chamisa in direct talks to help foster progress and development in the country.
ReplyDeleteChamisa and his MDC party’s political narrative; that the July 2018 elections parliamentary elections were free, fair and credible but not the presidential elections. Mnangagwa did not win the presidential race, Chamisa did. MDC are calling for political dialogue with Mnangagwa to resolve the legitimacy issue. How?
MDC want either Chamisa to be declared president or there should be a power sharing arrangement in which presidential and cabinet position are shared between Zanu PF and MDC. The exact split of the positions will be negotiated in the dialogue.
Chamisa has maintained that the principle reason there is no meaningful economic recovery is the failure to resolve the Mnangagwa legitimacy problem.
Even if MDC were to have their wish and have the power sharing arrangement this will not revive the economy because Zimbabwe will still be a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. It is not just Mnangagwa who is illegitimate but the whole Zanu PF government is illegitimate. Adding Chamisa to the regime will not transform it into a legitimate government. So Chamisa and his power sharing proposal is just a waste of time. If SADC leaders have any wit, they will never subscribe to his proposals and, as for the Americans and the EU, Chamisa is just whistling in the graveyard!
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has affected every sector of the economic including the education sector. It is common knowledge that both teachers and students have missed classes and many teachers have left the country for greener pastures. How then is it possible that examination results have continued to get better and better regardless!
ReplyDeleteThis is a sick joke! How many red-lines has MDC drawn over the years only for the party to ignore the lines themselves or for Zanu PF to cross the lines and nothing happens.
ReplyDeleteThe 2014 MDC party congress came up with the now infamous "No reform no elections!" resolution. A year later the then party Secretary General, Douglas Mwonzora, said they will contest the coming 2018 elections because they had devised ways of forcing Zanu PF to implement the reforms.
When it was clear MDC had made no inroad in getting the reforms implemented, the party's then spokesperson, Obert Gutu, said the party had devised strategies to win rigged elections! Nelson Chamisa, as party president, joining in with "MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging elections!"
As we know MDC participated in the 2018 elections with no reforms in place and Zanu PF, as expected, blatantly rigged the elections!
As long as Zanu PF remains in office till the 2023 elections the party will see to it that no meaningful reforms are implemented and the party will go on to rig the elections. Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friends will draw one red-line demand after another just to string the nation along, in the end MDC will participate in the 2023 elections with no reforms in place.
After 40 years of rigged elections it is up to us, the people of Zimbabwe, to stop the Zanu PF and MDC rot by making sure the next elections are free, fair and credible. We must appoint a competent body to implement the reforms! We only have ourselves to blame if we don't!
@ Phunyukabemphethe
ReplyDelete“So because the Gukurahundi party will block them all, this means it should not be done? Wasn't the Rhodesian Front blocking all Black efforts? Did we give up and simply did nothing?”
Patrick is not saying we should give up, far from it. What he has said is with its 2/3 majority in parliament Zanu PF will see to it that no meaningful reforms ever see the light of day. What is the point of trying a route which you know from the start will get you nowhere particularly when there is an alternative route which will deliver the desired objectives.
Zanu PF and MDC leaders have already shown that they lack the political will to implement the reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections. The solution is to appoint others with the political will, why is that so difficult for you to understand?