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Election preparedness, vibrant, robust party structures; the secret for MDC strategy
Promise Mkwananzi
March 15, 2010

1. Introduction

There is no greater emphasis that needs to be emphasized than the fact that the MDC must gear its political infrastructure towards election preparedness and victory. It appears to me that the coming months will be dominated by electoral politics as each party positions itself for the elections which will supposedly be held sometime next year. Both parties seem to have agreed to agree on this one. For the most part, the MDC is aggrieved by ZANU PF`s rampant violation of the global political agreement and feels that under free and fair conditions they could easily win the elections. While this might be reasonable assumption, the worst thing the MDC can do is to leave this critical historical process to the fate and whims of chance. The MDC must begin to take steps towards ensuring that the election is held under conducive and violent-free environment. More importantly, the MDC must fight to protect its members and supporters, particularly in the rural areas by strengthening its youth structures, its relations with civic society organizations, students and trade unions to be geared to protect the people. Crucially and linked to the above, the MDC should be able to claim and defend its victory. The international community can only be a complement not a replacement of the strategy and role of the MDC in this regard. This appears to me to be the sad reality that the party must face in the eye.

2. Lessons from March 29 and June 27

There are a number of positive and negative lessons that can be drawn from the two most recent elections. In the March elections which are deemed by many to have been relatively free and fair, a couple of factors ensured that the MDC won and that the election outcome could not be manipulated. The first is that the MDC must never divorce itself from its traditional democratic alliances which are the civil society, students and trade unions. There is need for a disclaimer here: the democratic alliance between the MDC and the civil society does not imply that the civil society is a blind follower or an extension of the MDC, rather this means that the civil society sees in MDC a party which more or less can open the democratic space in which the civil society will operate effectively, a party which by virtue of its sources of existence is more inclined to co-operate with civil society and other non-state actors in enacting a constitution that is decently people centered. This democratic alliance necessarily exists to subvert ZANUPF`s hold on power which enables them to suppress the democratic spaces. Hence, it can be argued that it is currently in the interests of both the MDC and civil society to wage a concerted fight in order to defeat ZANU PF and open a new chapter in the political environment of our country.

3. The Criticalness of MDC`s Traditional Alliances

The second point related to the above is the crucial role of civic education and electoral expertise. The broader civil society should begin a process which ensures that people are geared towards an election which includes campaigns encouraging voter registration, campaigns against violence and other unfair electoral practices which ZANU PF is known to rely on to claim false victory. Organizations such as the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) must pull their sleeves and hit the ground running, assessing the progress and efficacy of the newly appointed electoral (and other relevant) commissions, examining their probity and exposing their partial or unprofessional conduct. At the same time both the MDC and ZESN must begin to raise the electoral tempo within the region and the international community. There are reputable electoral institutions in the region and the international community, the MDC can take the lead in raising the pressure for the desirability of electoral observers and monitors to be in the country as early as practically possible. The electoral aptitude demonstrated by both ZESN and MDC cannot be over emphasized in terms of voter tabulation, announcement and publication of the results immediately after counting and so on and so forth. It is time to resuscitate that entire electoral infrastructure to guard against ZANU PF bigotry.

4. Internal Vibrancy and Robustness

The MDC must also look inwards to gear its structures and alliances towards an effective campaign. The youth is the vanguard of the party and must be seen to be taking the lead in the political processes. Never again should the youth allow the election result to be stolen without acting. It is the youth who can lead the party in their defeat of ZANU PF electoral tricks. While the youth should form the formidable nucleus of this vanguard, it does not mean that the women and the main wing must resign themselves and watch from the terraces. Rather, they should strengthen their structures and work in unison with the vanguard youth to ensure that ZANU PF has no chance for violence and rigging. In addition to economic stabilization and other notable reforms which the MDC initiated, the party could also take advantage of its being in government to initiate as far reaching institutional reforms as possible between now and the time for elections. A strategy must be devised in conjunction with the military heads in the region to pressure the Chiwengwa, Sibanda, Chihuri and Zimhondi to step down before elections or support whoever wins the election and to gracefully salute and serve under the same. Of course the MDC can underestimate the importance of its general members and supporters and the need to keep attracting more such at its own peril. This means that the MDC must be all -embracing and magnanimous in its coalition-building exercise. However, this does not mean compromising for the sake of compromising. The MDC will have to be astute enough to distinguish a true ally from political prostitutes, opportunists and other demagogues.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, the MDC strategy and vision must be centered on its revolutionary and vanguard youth. The party cannot afford not to rely on the patriotic and courageous young men and women that have stood and fought tooth and nail to keep the MDC afloat when faced with a vicious animal called ZANU PF. ZANU PF will lose and have to accept the results. The party cannot rely on international forces alone. The revolutionary youth will protect the ballot by any means necessary. If Morgan Tsvangirai does not build a strong vibrant youth vanguard, might as well forget power, because power will have to wrestled away from ZANU PF. If the people vote for the MDC, it will be up to the MDC to defend and snatch their victory-by blood and iron. If ZANU PF wants s to stay in power through illegal means, a revolution against it will be justified.

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