"So honoured to be in Germany, Berlin to attend the Germany Social Democratic Party SPD conference together with the ANC and Chama Cha Mapinduzi. Also had high profile meetings with the Germany government on governance, Trade and development. The future is exciting. The goodwill is amazing!” Twittered Nelson Chamisa looking as snug as a bug!
The EU had a very strong team, the strongest, of 246 individual to observe Zimbabwe’s last year elections. Like so many other observer teams from democratic nations, the EU team dismissed the 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 Mission final report.
“Finally, the restrictions on political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”
The vote rigging was so blatant that 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora were denied the vote. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll for Pete’s sake. And yet Zimbabwe’s opposition parties led by the MDC Alliance, led by Mr Nelson Chamisa, still participated in the elections regardless of the glaring flaws and illegalities.
The EU, the Commonwealth and everyone else’s damning reports of the election did not count for much because Zanu PF was able to turn around and point to Zimbabwe’s crowded political field. There were 23 presidential candidates alone!
We all know why Zimbabwe’s opposition parties and candidates have been contesting these election knowing fully well that Zanu PF was rigging the elections - GREED. The opposition knows that Zanu PF would give away a few gravy train seats during the elections and it is these opposition candidates were after.
“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 (2013) elections,” confessed David Coltart, an MDC leader, in his Book.
“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.”
Four of the main MDC factions did find each other to form the MDC Alliance before the 2018 elections and still they participated in last year’s elections knowing fully well that doing so undermines the national cause of fighting for free, fair and credible elections.
Since 2013 Zanu PF and MDC have reached a political arrangement, comparable to between Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, in which Zanu PF blatantly rigs the elections to secure its 2/3 majority and secure the presidency and MDC participates regardless how flawed the process to give the process credibility. MDC is rewarded with the remaining gravy train seats for playing along.
Zimbabwe should have ended the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship in 2013, at the latest, if Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had implemented the democratic reforms as agreed with SADC. MDC leaders sold-out and failed to get even one reform implemented. Not one!
Zimbabwe has been stuck with this corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship for 39 years. The country’s economy is now in total economic meltdown because of four decades of bad Zanu PF governance.
To break this Mnangagwa - Chamisa vote rigging Pact will need bold and imaginative thinking. We need to thinking outside the traditional box of seeing Zanu PF as the bad wolf, rigging the elections, and MDC as the innocent lamb, the victim of the rigged elections! Chamisa et al are doing very well, thank you, at least compared to the ordinary Zimbabweans.
It is the ordinary Zimbabweans, on the coal face of the economic ruins, who have suffered and are suffering; not Chamisa and his few friends, notably those got the bait seats on the gravy train.
It is not enough to call on Zanu PF to implement democratic reforms, better still impose sanctions; whilst saying nothing to MDC A, worse still reward them with brownie points; this will never break the present impasse and deliver free and fair elections. We need to acknowledge that MDC has been running with the hare and hunting with the Zanu PF hounds and punish both!
The MDC has been making a lot of noise, demanding “comprehensive reforms”, for example; this is to please Germany Social Democratic Party SPD and other westerners who will give Chamisa full marks for fighting for democratic change. This is just the growling of the cats which the uninitiated will take for fighting until they see the kittens!
The political situation in Zimbabwe has changed; Zanu PF and MDC have morphed from an iron-fisted dictatorship vs democrats into a collaborating team, the iron fist is hidden in the softest velvet glove and yesterday’s opposition, after giving up in delivery democratic changes, is now the dictators’ paid acolyte!
"Ich bin ein Berliner!” (I am a Berliner!) said United States President John F. Kennedy in June 26, 1963, in West Berlin.
If Nelson Chamisa’s twitter was meant to copy cat of President Kennedy then our Mnangagwa’s acolyte and upstart is really getting dangerously big headed!
Even with a track record of 20 years and not one change to show for it many Zimbabweans are still to wake up to the political reality of MDC’s betrayal and duplicity. One expects SPD and the rest in the west to be wide awake to this reality.
One expects the EU, Commonwealth, the Americans, etc. to start turning up the heat on Zanu PF and MDC leaders alike to restore of basic freedoms and rights in Zimbabwe. The two party are separate on paper but as one in fighting to keep the oppressive status quo.
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