It is "insane" participate in rigged elections says Musewe - stop talking and boycott. By N Garikai

Zimbabwe is in this political and economic mess because we have had the great misfortune of having a corrupt and tyrannical regime for 36 years long years. That, however, is not the full story; the other bit is that we have had the great misfortune of have a corrupt and incompetent opposition. President Mugabe would have never enjoyed absolute power for all these years if we had had a competent opposition!

“I have said many times before, Mugabe at 92 has no incentive to reform a system which fortified his total domination for the last 36 years. In addition, those who have benefitted from such a system and continue to benefit from it also have no incentive for radical change unless forced to do so by circumstances,” wrote Vince Musewe.

Of course President Mugabe has “no incentive to reform a system which fortified his total domination for the last 36 years”; that goes without saying. It is you and your fellow opposition leaders who have completely failed to grasp this simple notion and have failed to implement the all-important democratic reforms landing us all into this mess.

“In my opinion it is a pipe dream to think that Mugabe and his coterie can give up political power through elections which the very machinery he dominates and controls. Even the call to register to vote is to me a useless endeavour because how can you register in an illegitimate system that you want to change,” continued Musewe is his usual condescending Mister-know-it-all manner.

Since the end of the GPA it has been a lot harder to implement democratic reforms but not impossible. This is precisely why MDC should have implemented the reforms during the GNU when President Mugabe had his hands tied behind his back by the GPA.

Registering and taking part in the 2013 elections with no reforms implemented was not just “a useless endeavor”, it was a downright criminal folly. SADC leaders and others warned Tsvangirai and his MDC friends not to take part in the July 2013 elections without implementing the reforms first but, of course, the MDC leaders paid no heed – a point that has escaped the notice of our Mister-know-it-all.

Since the rigged July 2013 elections most mainstream opposition parties have said that they will boycott all future elections until democratic reforms are implemented - the very thing they should have done before the July 2013 elections. Still this is the only logic position going ahead; what is worrying is that none of the parties can expected to honor that position come the national elections.  

Free, fair and credible election are about giving the electorate a meaningful say in the governance of the country. Rigging the elections is about denying the people their right to a free and meaningful vote for the selfish reason of seizing power against the democratic wish of the people. The trick is to rigging elections and still keep up all the outward appearance of a contested election to justify afterwards that the elections were free, fair and credible.

President Mugabe tactic has been to rig the elections but allow the opposition to win a handful of seats, enough to entice them to abandon the stance to boycott the elections. It has worked!

Of course the opposition would like to have free and fair elections because that will increase their chance of beating the Zanu PF candidates. A principled demand for free and fair elections is great for the nation in that it is the guarantee of competent and accountable government.

However free elections are a calculated risk for the contesting candidates in that no one is ever guaranteed of victory. The risk is intolerably high for likes of Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and Joice Mujuru who have a well-documented track as corrupt and incompetent leaders; close scrutiny of their past will render them unelectable.

When the political prospect of ever getting back into power are grim with or without reforms implemented it is to see why people like Tsvangirai and Mujuru would rather call-off the boycott and fight each other over the crumbs. If asked they will all say that they will boycott the elections if everyone else does whilst privately hope everyone else will boycott leaving them to win all the crumbs!

“Zimbabweans must wake up, there is absolutely no point participating as willing partners in elections registration process in an illegitimate system presided over by partisan institutions. We cannot ever afford to assume that any political process, presided over by this evil machinery can stand for national interest,” lamented Musewe.

It is his fellow opposition parties that he should be speaking to although he will be whistling in the graveyard.

The opposition will take part in the elections and then, as always, complain that the elections were rigged. The whole world will ignore the complaining as sour grapes since the complainants had known all along that the Zanu PF plays with loaded dices!

“Another Zimbabwe is possible yes but it will not come by trusting the system or trusting ZANU (PF) or trusting Mugabe. It is like doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. That's insane,” concluded Musewe.

Charity begins at home. Mr. Musewe and his PDP should make the bold and momentous decision and vow that they will BOYCOTT the next elections until reforms are implemented as a matter of principle regardless of whether or not other opposition parties follow their example or not! End the insanity yourself, why wait for others to do the same!