The decision by Zanu (PF) to defy the Sadc and stick to its December 2010 resolution to hold elections this year is a classic example of infantile radicalism. It is a decision that will cost the beleaguered party very dearly in terms of political support both nationally and regionally. The reasons for insisting on conducting the polls this year are now well known to most The main reason is the declining support that the former liberation political party is receiving from the masses of this country, given its violent nature. The Mugabe party cannot hold a political rally that will be well attended anywhere in this country without having to frog-march people to the venue. Furthermore, the partys structures are in a shambles as a result of factionalism and the lack of organization.
The aged political party has run out of ideas for mobilizing the people and has to resort to brutality and the political culture of fear. It was, however, very sad that the man who is actively sponsoring violence and intimidation in the Nyanga North area lost his own daughter in a traffic accident two weeks ago. Life has a nasty way of making all of us pay for our sins in one way or the other. The pain you perpetrate on people may come visiting you one day. Food for thought.
It remains to be seen whether the Sadc extraordinary summit scheduled for this week will accept the Zanu (PF) decision to hold elections this year regardless of the extent to which the Global political Agreement (GPA) will have been implemented. It will be foolhardy for the outgoing ruling party to insist on holding elections which will be disputed by the other parties. This will throw the nation straight back to the illegitimacy of 2008, and the Sadc is unlikely to be willing to tolerate such madness.
It is also likely that the MDC-T will refuse to participate in sham elections that cannot result in undisputed results. As in the past, Zanu (PF) is likely to proceed to elections even without the MDC-T. There are always the NDA, NDE, NDU parties that will be glad to jump onto the ballot train, even though they know that they will not win even a single seat in Parliament.
Zanu (PF) will itself sponsor some of these parties to come out of the woodwork and participate in order to give some degree of credence to the electoral farce. The bottom line is, however, that the Sadc and the international community will refuse to recognize such elections as in any way legitimate. Without the participation of the MDC-T, there cannot be any legitimate elections in Zimbabwe.
So, what is the best way forward for this nation and for the Mugabe party? Zimbabwe will benefit from the full implementation of the GPA as soon as possible. The nation will also be placed in a much better place if the security sector is reformed prior to the holding of elections. It is frivolous for Zanu (PF) to argue that no nation should try and reform this nations security structures. South Africa never said that it wanted to come and reform our securocrats. The provisions for the reforming of the security structures are contained in the GPA, which was drawn up by the negotiators – who are all Zimbabweans.
All the principals who signed the GPA were well aware that these provisions existed in the document and that they were placed there by the negotiators. For Zanu (PF) to stubbornly allege that external countries want to reform our national security structures is clutching at straws.
Post published in: Opinions