Shun poll indaba at own peril
THE opposition has a disgusting tendency of opposing Government for the sake of opposing. This is at variance with the basic expectations of an opposition party in a country.
The President, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, has offered to meet all the opposition protagonists to discuss this and that in regards to the forthcoming harmonised elections. One of the President’s popular narratives these days is a call for a free, fair and non-violent election. Even in his congratulatory message to Nelson Chamisa on his ascendancy to the MDC-T presidency, Cde Mnangagwa alluded to the need for a peaceful election. “We look forward to a competitive, peaceful and positive election campaign, providing the people of Zimbabwe with a clear and democratic choice,” said the President.
The proposed meeting with the opposition leaders feeds into the mega agenda of holding a free, fair and peaceful election. Unfortunately, it is this meeting that the opposition leaders are setting inane conditions on for their attendancy. Some are saying they need a special invite because they are the biggest opposition party.
Others are saying the President must invite them in his capacity as the ruling party president not the State President. Yet others are demanding to attend the meeting on an equal footing. These are all unintelligent conditions that do not deserve any attention at all. President Mnangagwa is the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and this will not change anything despite attempts by the opposition leaders to bury their heads in the sand.
If the opposition were judicious enough, they would cash in on the engagement meeting to push for an electoral and political environment they want. They always complain in the media about the perceived uneven political playground. The media do not solve electoral issues save to inflame them. President Mnangagwa has generously provided the dais for them to raise all their concerns.
If the opposition are representing the interests of the people, they must listen to their voices. As the President always says, the voice of the people is the voice of God. The intention to have an engagement meeting has been hailed by all including the civil society organisations, as the right step towards democratising the political space.
At weddings, people are given the opportunity to raise their objections to the proposed matrimonial union of a couple. If they don’t, they are ordered to remain silent till death. In the same vein, the opposition must either attend the meeting and raise their concerns or shun it at their own peril. If they choose the latter path, they must forever remain silent. It’s either now or never forever. They must not complain of any election results or perceived electoral irregularities after the elections.
It appears the opposition parties have foreseen ZANU-PF’s clear victory on the horizon, thus they want to leave a room to use as a scapegoat for their imminent defeat. The meeting is set to satisfy every stakeholder, including the West, that the electoral environment is ripe for the polls. With endorsement from everybody, it will be extremely difficult for the opposition to raise complaints of an election they validated.
President Mnangagwa must not leave his victory to chance. The opposition is set to spoil his clean victory, thus he must play his game smartly. ZANUPF youth must refrain from violence, lest the opposition takes that as an excuse. There is no need to engage in violence because victory is already tilted towards them, more so with the succession battle within the MDC-T.
Chamisa, whose leadership in the MDC-T is being viciously contested, was recently in the media threatening to boycott elections if the so-called electoral reforms were not implemented. That makes everybody reminisces on the late Morgan Tsvangirai who had earned himself the moniker of “Mr Boycott” for always threatening to boycott elections. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
It appears the demon of boycotting was passed on to Chamisa as the baton was controversially passed to him. The engagement meeting is the right platform for Chamisa to raise the concerns that might trigger the needless boycott. Shunning such a sincere gesture from the President shows that the opposition cannot identify democracy even when it hits them in the face.