MDC "given hostage to fortune" as BVR will not stop vote rigging - desperate excuse out of desperation

“MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai last week made a surprise declaration that the biometric voter registration (BVR) process would not be manipulated,” wrote Nqaba Matshazi in Bulawayo 24.

“Tsvangirai has literally given hostage to fortune on this one.

“We have been here before and my worry is we do not seem to be learning from history and the same mistakes are being repeated.”

Nqaba, you are spot-on on all three points. Yes, MDC were very foolish to contest the 2013 elections with no reforms to stop the vote rigging. The party used the plausible excuse then that new 2013 constitution would deliver free and fair elections even though not even one meaningful reforms was. The party is really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to find an excuse why it should contest next year’s elections, given it has again failed to get even one reform implemented.

Claiming that the BVR system will in any way stop Zanu PF rigging the elections is a lie and a very stupid one too. But what you have to understand Nqaba, is that Tsvangirai is desperate for an excuse to contest next year’s elections and desperate man do desperate things!

SADC leaders warned Tsvangirai and his MDC friends not to contest the 2013 elections until the democratic reforms designed to stop the Zanu PF rigging vote in place. MDC ignored the warning. Even when the MDC leaders were aware of Zanu PF election shenanigans they still refused to withdraw from the rat race for the selfish reason of greed, as David Coltart readily 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,” wrote 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.”

In the wake of the rigged July 2013 elections, Tsvangirai & co. vowed they would never again contest another election until the reforms are implemented. They have long since changed their minds for the same reason the contested the flawed 2013 elections – greed for the few gravy train seats Zanu PF will give away to those will give the flawed process credibility by contesting. Having failed to get Zanu PF to implement even one token reform, the opposition have had to an excuse(s) they can to justify why they are again contesting flawed elections.

Tsvangirai had hope to announce the grand opposition coalition as the game-changer guaranteed to dislodge Zanu PF (no one explained how a single coalition candidate would have defeated Mugabe’s 62% vote in 2013 but that is another matter). With less than a year before the next elections and the coalition is still as elusive as the mirage sea! It is little wonder Tsvangirai is clatching at whatever he can.

Of all the stupid excuses for contesting next year’s elections with no reforms in place to claim that the new BVR system will stop Zanu PF rigging takes the biscuit. How is the BVR system going to stop Zanu PF thugs and traditional leaders (Zanu PF has just bought all the Chiefs new cars just to be certain of their continued partisan support) frog marching villagers to Zanu PF rallies, one of the most outrageous practices, for example?

The one thing Mugabe has learnt from the 2008 elections in which he rigged the vote but lost political legitimacy, is that he can still rig the elections but will never have to worry about losing legitimacy as long as the opposition contest the flawed elections. All he has to do is allow them to win a few seats to entice them to contest.

It is not so much that Tsvangirai and the rest in the opposition camp have failed to learn from the past; after 37 years of rigged elections even the half-wits among them would have finally acknowledged the futility of contesting an election one is certain will rigged. By throwing these give away gravy train seats; Mugabe knew the opposition will swallow the bait, hook and sinker.

Even the few opposition leaders like David Coltart one would have considered “sober” could not resist the gravy train bait. Although Coltart realised that boycotting the 2013 election was the “obvious and logical” thing to do; he, nonetheless, joined the MDC wildebeest held and contested the elections.

It is for the people of Zimbabwe themselves to learn the lesson from history. It is for them to learn their folly of believing MDC leaders’ lie that the 2013 election would be free, fair and credible even thou not even one democratic reform was in place. The people paid dearly for that folly; not only was Zanu PF able to rig the vote and return into power to torment them for another five years but worst of all the nation forfeited the golden opportunity to force the implementation of the democratic reforms. The question is; have the people learned and will not repeat the folly of 2013?

Whilst the people can be forgive for believing that the new 2013 constitution was going to stop Zanu PF rigging the election that year; only a fool would be taken with this lie that the BVR system will stop Zanu PF rigging the 2018 elections! If the people believe the lie then they will once again pay dearly for their foolishness.

The people can stop the holding of yet another meaningless election by demanding of the Zanu PF regime the implementation of the reforms BEFORE the elections. They can demand of Tsvangirai and his opportunistic opposition friends that they honour the “No reform, no election!” pledge!