There
is a growing chorus of people supporting the idea of Zanu PF inviting the
opposition to form another GNU or National Transition Authority.
“ACADEMIC
and political analyst Ibbo Mandaza says that a transitional government in the
form of a government of national unity (GNU), followed by elections two years
later is the way to go in resolving Zimbabwe’s political crisis,” reported
Newsday.
“Speaking
on a BBC television programme, Hardtalk hosted by Stephen Sackur, Mandaza said
there was need to mediate the conflict and have national dialogue which
includes everybody, including main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to form
a transitional authority.”
Whilst
there is good reason for some mechanism, be it mark-2 GNU, NTA or whatever, to
implement the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship
and deliver free and fair elections. Only a fool who expect Zanu PF to preside
over the process and get the job done.
People
must not be fooled; whatever GNU Mnangagwa may come up with it will not be
there to implement the democratic reforms the nation has been dying for.
Zanu
PF rigged the July 2013 elections to get a very comfortable two thirds majority
in both parliament and senate. The party has since won all but one of the
by-elections since to boost its majority even further. Tsvangirai, out of spite
and his usual foolishness, recalled all the seats from the break-away Tendai
Biti group knowing fully well he was not going to even try to win the seats
back in the by-election because his party had passed the “No reform, no
election!” resolution.
So,
with a 75% plus majority in both houses, Mnangagwa does not need to invite an
opposition members in his government. There can only be three reasons why would
want a GNU, they are all for selfish gain:
1) Mnangagwa, like Mugabe before, has always
wanted a one-party dictatorship. When Zanu PF was forced to sign-on to the
multi-party Lancaster House Constitution in 1979 they party set about to create
a de facto one-party State. The principle purpose of all the Gukurahundi
massacre was to completely destroy PF Zapu, their main rivalry at the time, clear
the deck, and impose the one-party state. Mnangagwa played a central role in
the massacre, because he, no doubt, subscribed to its principle objective.
Mugabe failed to achieve his Gukurahundi objective, wipe PF Zapu off the
Zimbabwe political stage, but achieved the next best thing – whip the party into
joining Zanu PF to form the de facto one-party state we have today.
Mugabe has ruthless denied the political space to all other opposition
parties accusing all opposition politicians of being puppets of the West hell-bend
on disrupting the peace and unity with their regime-change agenda.
No doubt, Mnangagwa will argue that he is inviting the opposition to
join his government in the name of national unity – the political correct
euphemism for one-party dictatorship, brought in by the back door.
Tsvangirai, Ncube and many others in the opposition camp will jump sky-high
at the opportunity to get back on the grave train. Tsvangirai was no more than
a tea-boy with the fancy post of Prime Minister during the 2008 to 2013 GNU.
With no SADC leaders agenda to worry about as last time, Mnangagwa can afford
to completely ignore the window-dressing opposition.
A healthy and functional democracy needs a robust opposition to hold the
government to account, something the corrupt and incompetent MDC politicians
have failed to do. Their being co-opted into Zanu PF government will silence
them completely.
2) Mnangagwa
knows that for him to stand a chance of winning the next elections he will need
a lot more than the 8 months left of the present parliamentary term. He wants
to use the creation of this fictitious government of national unity as an
excuse for postponing next year’s elections which must be held by the end of
July 2018 at the latest. He would want to argue that the new administration has
had to agree on the democratic reforms needed to take the country forward.
Mnangagwa knows that there no democratic constitution in the world that
would allow the seating government to postpone elections because it makes a
mockery of fixed term parliament. So, for him to pull this off he is playing
the same dirty trick Mugabe played during the GNU – bribe the opposition,
pamper them silly with the trapping of power, to buy their silence.
3) If Mnangagwa cannot postpone the elections then
he will have no choice but to rig the elections to hang on to his post as
president. He and his Zanu PF colleagues cannot afford the luxury of holding
free and fair elections and risk defeat. They cannot contemplate defeat because
they will stand to lose a lot more than the right to hold public office; they
will lose the power to stop the world investigating their past. For the last 37
years Mugabe, Mnangagwa and the rest of the Zanu PF cabal have looted the
nation blind and committed some shocking human right violations.
Even at the height of the Zanu PF factional wars, the one thing the
Mujuru, Mnangagwa and G40 factional members all agreed on was that a Zanu PF faction
must retain power at all cost and that is why no faction has ever supported the
implementation of democratic reforms.
The Mujuru faction was booted out of the party three years ago and it
has paid lip-service to democratic reforms and free and fair election. She and
her newly formed People’s Rainbow Coalition would rather take their chance and
contest flawed elections next year than demand reforms to ensure free and fair
elections which could result in a democratic government. She has as much to
fear from such a government as Mnangagwa and the rest in Zanu PF because she
too is guilty of the wholesale looting during for 34 years in Zanu PF.
So, Mnangagwa would be inviting the opposition to join him in his new
administration to reassure them that they too will have a share of the spoils
of power in post Mugabe Zimbabwe. He wants as many opposition parties to take
part in next year’s elections even if they know Zanu PF will rig the vote to
stay in power. He wants them to be assured the party will allow the opposition
some generous scraps.
Morgan
Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had more than the balance of power in the 2008
to 2013 GNU, MDC had a numeric majority in parliament and cabinet. They also had a clearly defined task to do,
implementing the raft of democratic reforms. Yet, after five years, they still failed
to get even one democratic reform implemented. Only the politically naïve would
believe that the opposition will accomplish anything by joining a Mnangagwa led
government of national unity in which they will not even be elected MP and with
a vaguely defined task of implementing electoral reforms.
Morgan
Tsvangirai and his MDC friends sold-out big time during the 2008 to 2013 GNU
they will be joining the Mnangagwa mark-2 GNU for no other reason than to
sell-out again!
We
need the democratic reforms implemented, there is no question that this is the
nation’s ticket out of the hell-hole Zanu PF has landed us in, but to think
that a mickey-mouse GNU headed by someone like Mnangagwa would reform himself
and his Zanu PF cronies out of office is the madness that landed us into this
mess in the first place! We want a mark 2 GNU but one with competent players,
not the same clowns from GNU mark 1, and a realistic chance of getting the
reforms implemented.
If
Mnangagwa cannot deliver free and fair elections then he must stand down. If he
fails to deliver free and fair elections then he will be compelled to stand
down. Either way, the nation will have a chance to appoint competent men and
women to form the GNU mark 2 without having to include Zanu PF and MDC
politicians. The latter had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms
during the 2008 to 2013 GNU; they fail and now they must go.
There are three reasons why Mnangagwa will actively want another GNU:
ReplyDelete1) He wants a one-party dictatorship and this is one way of creating one by the back door.
2) He will use the existence of the GNU to justify postponing elections giving himself more time to stamp his own authority on Zanu PF and the nation before going for election.
3) If he cannot postpone elections then he will have no choice but to rig next year's elections. For him to stop the results being rejected he must make sure all opposition parties contest the flawed elections and inviting them into his administration will be his way of telling them there will be more scraps for you where those came from!
All the three reasons above are for Mnangagwa and Zanu PF's selfish gain at the expense of the ordinary people.
@ Sarah
ReplyDeleteZanu PF "is being magnanimous and have the good of Zimbabwe at heart"! Of all the feeble excuse for a Zanu PF led GNU that takes the biscuit! It is not in the nature of a hyena to be magnanimous to a lamb and Zanu PF is the ruthless hyena of Zimbabwe politics.
You are on the ground and you clearly got it wrong that Zanu PF can ever be magnanimous. So you can be on the ground and in touch with the practical situation and yet still get things hopeless wrong. The stupid argument that only those on the ground know is just another variation to the age-old argument that only those who fought in the liberation war know best. There is nothing in being on the ground or fighting in the war that say you are wiser than everyone else.
If you think Wilbert is wrong then say why you think he is wrong and not give us all this bull about you being on the ground or in heaven. You admit that "the opposition is dead" then what would a dead opposition accomplish in this GNU?
It is Mnangagwa who was the GNU to give himself time to ensure he wins the next elections and is cunning enough to give the impression that he is doing the opposition and nation at large a great favour.
Mnangagwa has just been addressing his Zanu PF supporters in Harare and was talking of “Pasi nenhandu!” (Death to the traitors!) After 37 years of independence who are the traitors? The opposition and all who dare criticize him, of course.
Anyone who thought the events of the last two weeks have made Mnangagwa reflect on what he and his Zanu PF cabal have done was wrong. He has returned as cocky and arrogance as ever. The man is not a democrat and he will never implement any meaningful reforms!
“History has taught us that failed liberation movements cannot and will not self-correct. The solution has to come from outside these movements‚” said SA DA leader, Mmusi Maimane.
ReplyDelete“Zanu PF has become nothing more than a patronage network engulfed in fighting over access to power and state resources for those who are politically connected.”
Well spoken!
Here is Zimbabwe, people are doing themselves a great disservice by taking their eyes off the demand to implement the democratic reforms, the only sure way to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship. The removal of the dictator Mugabe is not the death of the dictatorship especial when it is the dictatorship itself that has surgically removed him and replaced him with another dictator!
Zimbabwe’s next elections are due next year in July at the latest, the challenge is for SADC to reject the result if they are not free and fair, as is almost certain to be the case.
@ Austin
ReplyDeleteTrue, there is no one in the opposition worthy of the people's vote. Still, it will be a serious mistake here to see Zanu PF as the solution. We are in this mess because of Zanu PF and the factional changes that has resulted in the demise of Mugabe will change nothing. Zanu PF will still be as corrupt and tyrannical as ever.
The solution here is to demand and have the democratic reforms implemented and then only then hold elections. The democratic reforms will force the politicians on both sides of the divide to up their game and thus force quality leaders to emerge.
Democratic reforms will force quality to improve and your mistake is you are limiting your choice of leaders on the ones there before the reforms. Implement the reforms first and then ask whom to vote for, the likes of Tsvangirai will not last a week once the country has been opened up to real competition.