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Poll boycott out of question
Obert Madondo
January 05, 2005

http://www.dailymirror.co.zw

...with or without the MDC, polls should take place

To boycott the March general election or not to: that, for Zimbabweans, is the burning question. Yet the answer is quite simple - boycott is out of the question.
The March election is unlike any other ever held; it is an election and a referendum in one. It is a referendum on ZANU PF, on the MDC, on the current parliament and on our political maturity.

Zimbabwe was once a near one-party state. In 2000 the country took an unequivocal detour into the realm of more-than-one-party-state politics. The search for the ideal governance regime that recognises the country's history and uniqueness started. The search has so far claimed lives, polarised us and alienated us from much of the world. We are not alone. The US' democratic tradition is painted on the canvass of considerable human blood.

Until five years ago, we'd never had the chance to decide for ourselves what was best for us. The Bretton Woods institutes dictated our economics. Our land, the undisputed decider of our human and other rights, and, therefore, democracy, remained for a long time subjugated to Lancaster House agreements. It's only in the last five years that a "founding" spirit has engulfed us. We know exactly what we desire - a just, peaceful and democratic Zimbabwe - but we've yet to agree on the best road map.

The call to boycott is predicated on the argument for an "ideal" electoral process. The ideal electoral process is a fallacy. Words like 'vote buying' and 'intimidation' now dominate the US election jargon too. An ideal electoral process evolves out of a continuous, uninterrupted process. That, for us, entails accepting our hostile political climate with a graceful willingness to improve it, rather than seeking the easy way out.

The boycott anthem is also founded on a genuine fear of the inevitable. Some political pundits are suggesting that MDC participation equals losing, equals legitimising continued ZANU PF rule. Here's the juggernaut: we boycott the election and ZANU PF grabs all the seats and entrench their rule. What next for the opposition? Call on the Americans to come and liberate us?

Proponents of the boycott are too excited about flushing Mugabe out of State House to comprehend that his tenancy expires only in 2008. The 2005 election is a platform to elect MPs who will debate the burning issues and pass laws that'll benefit Zimbabwe. It will be a bonus if those laws level off the playing field and facilitate the opposition ascend to power.

What if the MDC does boycott? Zimbabweans should still go to the polls. It's time this small-parties-are-ineffective anthem was outlawed. Small parties by what standards; ineffective by whose standards? The tragedy of our politics today is that 'opposition' is synonymous with MDC and vice-versa. We seem gung-ho stuck in this rapid, big-party-cum-MDC mob mentality. The ultimate opposition has always existed - inside us.

The current power-hungry two-horse race, the sidelining of fundamental issues, hasn't really served us, has it? An MDC boycott might just be the opportunity to give smaller parties and independents another deserved serious thought. I'm talking the possibility of a third voice, a kingmaker in parliament, the dawn of a genuine (two-plus) multi-party democracy, here.

And now the 'referendum aspect'.

The March election is a grand finale of the 2000-2005 parliamentary period. The ZANU PF government continued on a familiar path - draconian laws, opposition harassment, media and civil society clampdown, et cetera. But in all fairness, the government has quite a bit to smile about. The land reform programme is taking shape. Gideon Gono's reforms and the look-East-shun-the-West economic policy are credited for staying the economy from imminent collapse.

The MDC lost a couple of by-elections. The final push flopped. Few glanced at the much-touted RESTART proposal. But the party distinguished itself as the most ardent advocate of the SADC principles and guidelines. However, there are few signs on the ground to show that the anger and disillusionment that mothered the MDC has been invested.

Have the two main parties evolved? ZANU PF survived sustained Western damnation and an internal coup plot, before electing Joyce Mujuru to the presidium. The MDC has had a few high profile expulsions, frequent internal squabbling but little movement in any direction. More or less same team is at the helm.

The current parliament will not be spared either. The Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and its sister 'draconian' laws got passed, with a handful others on the horizon. These laws will dictate upon the governance of our country for a long time to come, thanks to someone we voted for in 2000.

Finally, the spotlight will shine on us. I often heard on the eve of the 2000 elections people bragging that they'd vote a gecko if it stood for the MDC, just to spite ZANU PF. Whether we've 'geckos' in the current parliament is not for me to say. I'm concerned whether we have matured, politically. Are we ready to shun violence and voter apathy?

Most importantly, are we ready to intervene in the political debate? For most of the last five years, the debate has played in foreign courtrooms. The counsels, judges and jury have been foreigners who have for qualifications a debilitating lack of understanding of the Zimbabwe issue, an obsession with trashing Robert Mugabe and political change from ZANU PF to MDC as the definition of democracy. It's time we brought the quarrel back to the domestic courtroom. Only then can we play prosecutor or defence, summon witnesses for and against and be both judge and jury. Tell me we can achieve this through a boycott!

*Obert Madondo is a Zimbabwean political commentator based in Canada.

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