There is a big danger in Mugabe declaring election dates without consulting and agreeing with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who also holds executive powers in the current coalition government, and Welshman Ncube, the leader of the third party in the current administration.
A unilateral declaration by Mugabe is bound to offset acrimony and has the potential of pushing Zimbabwe back into crisis mode. We do not foresee any chance of the other parties lying back and succumbing to that machination.
Once there is discord, the outlook for the elections would be tarnished from the start – making it difficult to have the elections endorsed as free and fair by its citizens and the regional and international communities.
The principals agreed on the draft constitution last month. So there is no reason why that consensus should not be extended to the date for elections. The spirit of togetherness that prevailed then should be replicated for the sake of progress and democracy.
Some people have argued that the President has the powers to act on his own and declare election dates without consulting the other principals. But what they conveniently forget to acknowledge is that, since 2008 when the principals signed the GPA, this accord is the one that must guide the transitional phase and socio-political-economic resuscitation of our country.
There is therefore need to respect the GPA in letter and spirit – for it is our main hope for bringing the country back to stability and prosperity.
We want to avoid a situation whereby our politicians get at each other’s throats once again just because one person has the political arrogance to go it alone. We have come a long way and we cannot afford to break the water calabash at the doorstep.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga