This message was replayed in 2012, with the President and a coterie of propaganda hawks insisting once again that the election should be held “before the end of the year”. Then came the three by-election court case, and Mugabe promised that the poll would be held by 31 March 2013.
Well that has not happened, thanks to some legal technicalities and shenanigans. But the relentless Mugabe just will not let up, and has announced that the election will be held by 29 June 2013. This position too is proving to be untenable.
In effect, Mugabe has set five deadlines for the poll – effectively keeping scared Zimbabweans in election mode (fearful, apprehensive, on edge, destabilised and demoralised) 24/7 for more than two years. How stressful!
If he craves an election so much, how come none has taken place? One ready speculation is that he has been defying political reality by persistently trying to go it alone. Unlike in the past, when he could anchor the ship wherever and whenever he wanted to, there are more captains in the control room now and he cannot steer in any direction he pleases.
Besides the two other principals (never mind Arthur Mutambara) in the Government of Unity, which is still in motion contrary to the spin that it has expired, Mugabe has his colleagues in SADC and the AU to contend with. The Global Political Agreement has to be consummated.
The Old Man must surely know this. So, why is he talking about the need to hold the election urgently? It could be that he is simply keeping up appearances, by trying to give his followers and the world the impression that he is still in charge. Of course, one or two people would always fall for that line.
However, if that is his intention, then he has lost dismally. For a man whose word used to carry the day for three decades and more, it becomes pretty embarrassing that he announces election time frames on about five occasions and none of them ever happens. That is likely to convince people that his might is gone.
His party should have advised him to keep everyone guessing, including Morgan Tsvangirai, and divert the country from more pressing and critical issues. Well, if that is the case, then he is succeeding.
I am convinced that repeatedly talking about elections has diverted Zimbabweans from some crucial issues regarding the constitution-making process, issues our historians might document at some stage. These, of course, would add to the myriad scandals that we now know have been associated with the process.
There is good reason to also believe that calling for an election to be held at the nearest corner has been Mugabe’s clever way of hiding his fear of the same. I have wondered over the years – from 2010 when he started talking about the date – why Mugabe sounded so convinced that he could win an election, especially at such short notice and with us just having dragged ourselves out of the economic and political cesspool that he and his cronies had dug.
It sounds plausible that Mugabe, weighing his chances, saw it fit to give the world the impression that he is not afraid of elections, and is therefore a democratic statesman. Who would fault him for anything if, somehow, the election does not take place any time soon, considering that he has been calling for polls all this time?
When all is said and done, however, it remains a fact that the Old Man has been giving us too many unhelpful threats regarding elections. Perhaps, this time around, someone else needs to be talking about elections in a realistic and practical manner. – For feedback, please write to majonitt@gmail.com
Post published in: Opinions