Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

Presentation by the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, the Right Hon. Morgan Tsvangirai, at the New Zimbabwe Lecture series
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
October 18, 2012

Zimbabwe's next election: Prospects for a democratic breakthrough?

Mr. Chairman, I am happy to be here and to participate in this important discussion about the future of our country.

I want to say from the outset that the character of Zimbabwe'snext election has already been agreed between the parties and is known as the GPA which was signed under the facilitation of SADC.

One of the key mandates of the inclusive government, according to the GPA, was to ensure that we put in place mechanisms and implement reforms to achieve a free and fair election in Zimbabwe.

Under that agreement, we resolved as parties to do things differently from the circus of 2008 which was marked by State-sponsored violence and rigging.

Thus, the GPA and the roadmap we agreed and signed up to, were meant to determine the nature and character of the next election which should usher in a legitimate government.

Among the important benchmarks we set for ourselves were political, media, electoral and security sector reforms. Above all, we agreed to embark on Constitutional reform, to de-toxicate our politics and to consign violence to the dustbin.

Last month, we marked the fourth anniversary of the GPA and the question is to what extent has the inclusive government gone in addressing those things that would make a free and fair election possible?

There has been movement in some areas. Some electoral and political reforms have happened. On Sunday, we will be addressing the second All-Stakeholders conference. It is my sincere hope that all parties will support that national process and ensure the successful completion of that important exercise for which we have committed huge resources financial and material resources.

But there has been no movement in media reform, security sector reform and violence is still with us. I was in Zaka a fortnight ago and I saw with my own eyes victims of Zanu PF violence. After I visited St. Anthony's Musiso mission hospital to see an old man who had been petrol-bombed by Zanu PF supporters, I am told the matron and the hospital staff received an anonymous call threatening them with death for giving treatment to MDC supporters and for allowing me and my delegation into the hospital.

Despite these impediments, it behoves upon us to ensure the successful implementation of agreed positions. I know the scepticism about whether we will be able to do within the next 9-12 months what have failed to do in four years. But I tell you we have no option as the inclusive government if we are to have a clean election in line with SADC resolutions and in line with what we agreed ourselves.

This week, we discussed as cabinet the need to set up an implementation committee that will ensure that we abide by our signatures.

Our major challenge is that those who are desperate for an early election have refused to implement the reforms that would have ensured the early election that they wanted. If our colleagues in Zanu PF had implemented media reforms, stopped violence and implemented security sector and other key reforms, we would have long since held that early election.

But the signs are that our colleagues are already afraid of a free and fair election. They know that the people's verdict will be with the MDC. They are aware that the people of this country want a break from the past; that they want a new democratic culture and a new Zimbabwe.

How does one explain the fears of one Patrick Chinamasa, a Minister of Justice, a negotiator and a lawyer who should be a stickler to Constitutionalism and the rule of law?

Why should he tell the world that there will be a coup if Tsvangirai wins the next election?

Our colleagues have already conceded defeat and are mulling unconstitutional methods of averting that defeat. But I have news for Patrick Chinamasa and Rugare Gumbo; we have patriots within the rank and file of our security forces. They will not join the so-called coup.

I can assure you the soldiers, most of whom I talk to every day, will not take part in it!
Zimbabweans will not allow it! SADC will not allow it! And the AU will not allow it!

But tell you what? I remain hopeful about this country and its prospects. The people of this country are perennial winners and we will be there in the new Zimbabwe.

For me, despite these temporary set-backs, change is almost upon us. We are in the last mile!

In 1993, sceptics thought it would take a few more years for the racist apartheid regime to collapse but it did collapse in 1994.

Those who were dispirited in 1979 never thought we would attain our independence but we did gain political independence the following year!

Some of us were prisoners in 2007 but the MDC went on to win an election the following year!

And I defeated Mugabe in that election in 2008!

So I remain hopeful about the prospects for a democratic breakthrough in 2013.We are a resilient people! We are a nation of revolutionaries!

We are a blessed people and I know that God has great plans for the people of this country!

I am hopeful that we will have a new Constitution and we will hold a successful election, because some of us will only participate in a free and fair election.

We will build upon the new Constitution; which though not perfect, sets the basis for a new era in this country.

And I want to restate that the date for the next election has yet to be agreed. After we have satisfied ourselves to the conditions will the President and I agree on the date for the next election. So get it from me, there is no date yet for the next election unless and until President Mugabe sits down and agrees with me.

That is the Constitutional position and it has not happened yet.

So the next election must have an uncontested outcome; must confer legitimacy and must lead to the respect of the people's will and transfer of power.

The Constitutional role of the army and security forces in an election is to protect people and not to waylay the will and the mandate of the people.

The next election will usher in a new leadership and a new vision for the country. Our collective march towards change and total transformation is irreversible.

We must develop a new democratic, inclusive and participatory culture where our diversity is an asset rather than a threat and where disagreement is healthy for national discourse and new ideas.

My vision is a five-legged pot which will transform this country into a modern and democratic State.

That vision is anchored on the five pillars of the people's active participation in their governance to promote democracy, infrastructure rehabilitation, a new economic policy which creates jobs and remains underpinned by global knowledge and technological trends, food security and peace.

We and the international community must recognize that diversity and dissent are healthy signs of growth. Though the 'Zimbabwe Situation' is a phrase often referenced to evoke frustration and sympathy, let us redefine it as an everlasting confidence in the future, a confidence inherent to our culture.

Within a single generation, we can rise again and bring back the pride to this beautiful country that we all love.

I Thank You

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP