Let’s not forget that the military kept Mugabe in power for years

Much of our current euphoria in Zimbabwe – that Robert Mugabe’s term is finally coming to a close – is misplaced. As I have reflected this morning about the amazing scenes on Saturday, I am left with much disquiet.

I marched to celebrate the end of Mr Mugabe’s rule, not to thank the military for trying to remove him. In all of our joy we must never become so intoxicated as to forget that it was the same generals who allowed him to remain in power in 2008 and 2013. We must never forget how the military and war veterans spearheaded the violence that followed the March 2008 elections to ensure that Mr Mugabe got back into power. They were behind the abduction and murder of hundreds of MDC activists that year. Without their intervention, Mr Mugabe would never have won the run off election.

We must never forget how the military engineered the victory of Mr Mugabe in 2013. Although they did not engage in violence, I remember the long lines of soldiers (dressed in civilian clothes) in my constituency who voted early and often.

At the time I commented how Mr Mugabe was elected through the military discipline of our armed forces. We must never forget how soldiers were seconded to the bodies involved in the election. Once again, Mr Mugabe would never have been elected without their involvement.

So all the military have done this week is clean up their own mess. That is the truth and while we celebrate what they have done to push Mr Mugabe towards the exit door, it is also important that we all remind the military that their role should never be to secure the election or removal of any president. That job belongs to the electorate. No one else.

So our message to the military must be: thank you for cleaning up the mess you created but you must now return to your barracks and never again get involved in the electoral process. The real danger of the current situation is that having got their new preferred candidate into State House, the military will want to keep him there, no matter what the electorate wills.

The election must be held before July 22 2018. We, and the international community, must make it loud and clear to the military that they have no role to play in that. We must unite in demanding that the military step back. If Mr Mugabe refuses to resign then parliament must impeach him. We don’t need the military for that. Whatever civilian government emerges must be allowed to govern without any interference. Anything less will mean the real power in Zimbabwe, to determine who governs, remains with the military, not the electorate.

Sen David Coltart is a Zimbabwean politician and opponent of Zanu-pf