Dear Chronicle Editor
If you want the reader to take you seriously then you must respect him/her by treating historic facts with respect.
“Former South Africa President Mr Thabo Mbeki's record of pulling off political settlements against the odds is well known. As Sadc-appointed mediator to dialogue in our country, he delivered the Global Political Agreement (GPA) on 15 September 2008 between Zanu-PF, MDC and MDC-T, ushering in the inclusive government," you said in your editorial.
“The talks were necessary to move the country forward as elections that had been done five months earlier had yielded a hung parliament.”
Everyone including SADC and AU, who have turned a blind eye to Zanu PF rigging elections in the past, rejected Zanu PF’s claim that it won the 2008 elections because the whole election process was marred by blatant cheating in the March 2008 vote followed by the wanton violence during the run-off. As a way out of the political impasse, SADC proposed the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
To therefore, claim the GNU was formed because the 2008 elections had “yielded a hung parliament” is a blatant lie! The GNU was formed because the elections had failed to produce a legitimate result.
Mugabe and Zanu PF were forced to sign the GPA agreeing to the implementation of the raft of democratic reforms designed to stop the cheating and wanton violence. Sadly, not even one meaningful democratic reform was implemented in five years hence the reason we had yet another blatantly rigged elections last year.
You failed to mention the failure to implement any reforms and hence the continued curse of rigged elections; a serious error of omission.
“He (Nelson Chamisa) does not deserve the preferential treatment he is demanding because he constitutes a minority against others in POLAD. MDC Alliance might be the biggest opposition party in the country but in the broader scheme of things, the party is just a minnow. They only hold 88 seats in the legislature and contribute a far smaller proportion at local government level. On the other hand, Zanu-PF holds 179 seats in Parliament and a larger majority at local government level. President Mnangagwa won the presidential poll by more than 300 000 votes,” continued the Editorial.
The error of omission is explained.
What is the point of Mnangagwa saying he won “by more than 300 000 votes” and yet no one can verify that result because the regime failed to produce something as basic to free, fair and credible elections as a verified voters’ roll.
Mnangagwa’s 300 000 become meaningless when viewed in the context of the 3 million Zimbabwean in the diaspora he denied the vote!
Zimbabwe is in this economic mess with the economy in total meltdown because the country is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who have rigged elections to stay in power. By blatantly rigging last year’s elections Mnangagwa confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state contrary to his post November 2017 coup claims of a “new democratic dispensation”.
Zimbabwe is stuck in this hell-on-earth of our own making. The way out is for the country to implement the raft of democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 GPA. And since Zanu PF and MDC will not implement the reforms, nothing stop them getting this done during the GNU and beyond except the lack of political will and vision, the nation should appoint other people who will.
Zanu PF must step down, the regime has no political mandate to rule since last year’s elections were flawed and illegal and could not possibly produce a legitimate result. The rigging of the elections, the formation of POLAD, the invitation of former SA President Thabo Mbeki and, worst of all, the use of brute force to silence all dissent; these are all political machinations by Mnangagwa to legitimise his illegitimate government and extend his stay in power. Zanu PF is holding the nation to ransom; no nation on earth can ever permit that!
No doubt you, Chronicle Editor and your staff, know you have been helping Zanu PF in these treasonous pursuits of rigging elections, etc. act with your lies, omissions and brainwashing of the people. And to think it is the people who pay you the thirty pieces of silver!
SADC leaders were disappoint with Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends for failing to get even one meaningful democratic reform implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. The regional leaders even tried to get the 2013 elections postposed to allow the implementation of the reforms.
ReplyDelete"Of course they (elections) can be postponed," Dr Ibbo Mandaza explained to Violet Gonda in a Hot Seat interview in April 2017
"In 2013 the Maputo Summit, in June 2013, before the elections, the Maputo Summit was all about having the elections postponed – the SADC summit. I went there. I was there at the Summit and Mugabe pretended to agree to a postponement of the elections.
"If you recall, the postponement was based on the need to reform at least electoral laws.
"After that Summit, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, all of them were called to a separate meeting by the Heads of State of SADC in the absence of Mugabe, that same evening. And they were told; I was sitting there outside the room with Mac Maharaj; they were told ‘if you go into elections next month, you are going to lose; the elections are done’."
MDC leaders ignored SADC leaders' warning and participated in the 2013 elections and then the 2018 elections. Zanu PF went on to rig the elections, as SADC leaders and everybody had predicted. Whilst one can understand why SADC leaders accept Zanu PF as the victor of the rigged elections, they had little choice but to accept once MDC and the rest in the Zimbabwe opposition camp had decided to participate in rigged elections.
Accept the rigged elections results was one thing, endorsing the elections as having been free, fair and credible was a bridge too far.
SADC should know that Zimbabwe will never get out of the mess the country is stuck in without implementing the democratic reforms and hence the reason the regional body should never ever be seen endorsing a contrary position.