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The next harmonised elections will be won on record of performance and not political rhetoric
Precious Shumba
April 15, 2013

View this article on the Sokwanele website

The election season is upon us. Political parties are busy screening their candidates. Politicians have become the most visible leaders across Zimbabwe. Some of the political leaders and civil society leaders have described the next Harmonised Elections the second to the 1980 Independence elections. Others have described this coming election as a decider of the fate of anti-democrats, who are set to be quarantined to the dustbin of political history, based on their own interpretation of events unfolding in the country.

The truth of the matter is that this next Harmonised Election will be fought on five key issues, namely indigenisation, job creation, economic revival, the security of the citizens, the track record of electoral contenders, given that the three main political parties have had an opportunity to demonstrate their capacity in their time in the Inclusive Government, established on 13 February 2009. This is across the board, from the executive, national and local government.

The actual performance of the three parties, forming the Inclusive Government will go a long way in determining who gets the majority vote. In the next elections the citizens of Zimbabwe will determine who become the next President of Zimbabwe, and not any foreign power, or opinion polls will deliver the vote to any one of the political parties.

Zanu PF has unceasingly distracted the urban local authorities to run their affairs through abuse of executive powers bestowed on the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo by allegedly interfering with the tendering processes and dismissal of corrupt councillors.

The MDCs have not really pushed for the democratisation of the local government sector where citizens remain peripheral players. The Urban Councils’ Act Chapter 29:15, remains problematic to residents as they are treated with contempt by both the councillors and the administrators of local authorities, and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development brought its amendments of the Urban Councils Act, aided by MDC Members of Parliament. Urban councils are now being run by powerless Mayors, and committees of council exclude residents in major decisions. This matter will influence voters in a major way. The MDCs have to respond well to this through a careful selection of its candidates otherwise they will be damaged by the calibre of leaders they will present to the electorate, competing against Zanu PF candidates.

Zanu PF is determined to retain the presidency, and recover its majority in Parliament and in the Senate. With presidency in the bag, they look forward to appoint their trusted cadres, among them those who are holding portfolios today in local government, security, home affairs, defence, and introduce some changes in the portfolios that are currently held by the MDC formations. At the same time, the MDC, surnamed Tsvangirai, has already started creating messages that impress upon the voter the decisive nature of the forthcoming elections where ‘they are marching to State House with Save,’ and condemning other political actors as imitators, whose political life will end after the elections.

But the MDC, led by Professor Welshman Ncube is not folding its arms. They are busy re-organising, and trying to select election candidates by consensus, trying to avoid the risky primary elections, which have the potential to bring more conflict within the same political party ahead of crucial elections. According to media reports, this MDC side has already confirmed its presidential candidate, just like the MDC-T and Zanu PF.

Political actors like Dr Simba Makoni (Mavambo Kusile Dawn), former ZIPRA intelligence supremo Cde Dumiso Dabengwa (Zapu), and MDC99 leader Job Sikhala have not yet shown where they are going at a national scale, in terms of visible mobilisation of the electorate, and marketing their priorities, policies and plans in the event they occupy the Presidency.

The real electoral contest will be among Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC. That is not to say that the MKD, MDC99 and Zapu are not major players, but that they have not demonstrated consistency and hunger to really transform Zimbabwe starting with a visible grassroots presence.

Zimbabwe has been unfortunate to have only one president since independence in 1980. Zanu PF has been the dominant party, backed by the President’s Office, the Military, the Prisons, the Police and youths militia. This has been possible because of an all too powerful Executive Presidency that has been able to determine how things happen, within the institutions of the State, reducing the influence and power of the Judiciary and the Legislature.

Within this context of analysing the likely scenarios that will emerge from the elections, there is need to examine the position of Zimbabwe’s civil society, as a key player in the political of transition in the country. The majority of the civil society organisations would prefer the ouster of Zanu PF from power owing to its abuse of authority, the persecution of civic leaders, rampant corruption in the exploitation of the nation’s minerals resulting in endemic poverty and underdevelopment, and the subsequent of opaque administration of the revenue generated, high unemployment levels in the country, and an abusive security sector that acts with impunity towards those opposed to Zanu PF’s rule.

Some of the civil society leaders are mostly advocating for a coalition of political parties around the candidacy of the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai as a proposed recipe to defeat Zanu PF and ascend to the Presidency, and take charge of the Government of Zimbabwe. A lot of energy has been devoted to making this proposal acceptable, and it is being touted as the only realistic chance of ending Zanu PF’s dominance of Zimbabwe political life. They argue that without a coalition, Zanu PF will remain in charge of Zimbabwe. There are concerned stakeholders who have taken it upon themselves to approach the various political leaders, arguing for the establishment of a coalition against Zanu PF in the coming Harmonised Elections. Whether this initiative is driven by selfish motives or genuine desire for a transformation is beyond the scope of this paper.

In my opinion, a coalition among the other political parties against Zanu PF has no prospect of success without the necessary drive among the political leaders in either the MDC-T or MDC.

Previously, the Ncube MDC has accused the Tsvangirai MDC of being abusive and treating them like nonentities in electoral contests, arguing that the MDC-T has the capacity to go it alone. Within the same context, there are officials in the MDC-T who have not forgiven Professor Ncube for his principled stand to defend the democratic vote of a united MDC national council executive meeting on 12 October 2005 with 31 councillors voting against participating in the senate elections and 33 councillors favouring participation, causing the split. I personally doubt it was the only cause. Tsvangirai reportedly overturned this binding resolution and decided against participating, although the MDC-T is now represented in the senate.

That split was unnecessary as it was premature and retrogressive. I personally believe that this was a personalised battle of influence between Professor Ncube and Tsvangirai. Both leaders could have swallowed their pride and built a stronger movement for democratic change than the delay they both engineered, with encouragement from their lieutenants who were also desperate to be in positions of influence within their political parties. There are individuals that surround Tsvangirai and Ncube that have no wish to rejoin hands because they have tasted power, and will apparently work behind the scenes to scuttle efforts at forming an alliance.

Suppose the coalition is established, will MDC-T favour Ncube to lead the coalition or they will stick with Tsvangirai, arguing he is the ‘face of the struggle’ and demands that every other political party wanting the coalition should rally behind Tsvangirai. Or maybe the coalition partners will find a new person altogether. Ideally, Tsvangirai has the clout of national presence, but the question is, is he capable to bridging differences among diverse people from differing political persuasions?

A political alliance in my world should have clearly defined objectives, outputs and outcomes, against which they will measure and time the level of support following elections. The architects of an alliance politics should immediately develop a strategy of how they will organise themselves in the electoral campaign. Zimbabweans want what is best for them, and not what is best for the political leaders. The path they will have to follow in order to gain the Presidency, the legislature and the local councils has to be pragmatic, with all players prepared to compromise than remain glued to singular positions.

Some of the outcomes that are anticipated by the nation on whoever assumes the Presidency are; secure expanded democratic space, and enhance citizen participation in all spheres of the economy; legal, policy planning, implementation and legislative frameworks are enhanced for the participation of the marginalised people, especially women and the youths, particularly without the local government sector and within the parliamentary systems.

It is true that in March 2008, Dr Simba Makoni, then independent, garnered unexpected votes (8,3 %) from Zimbabweans, who believed in him. Speculation and accusations that he stole Tsvangirai’s victory are hollow and unrealistic as no one knows really who voted for Dr Makoni. Assumptions are not facts.

The argument presented by Mr Pedzisai Ruhanya, the Director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (Zimbabwe Independent, 12 April 2013, Tsvangirai-Ncube pact game-changer) that “In articulating the significance of the need for the democratic forces to unite, the two MDC formations - one led by Tsvangirai and the other by Ncube - need to show and exercise leadership for the broader democratisation cause” to me sounds great but does not examine the issues that must unite them besides defeating Zanu PF.

The proposition for an alliance of democratic forces is ideal but it requires genuine strategists and leaders for it to take root among the citizenry. The alliance should not be about removing President Mugabe and Zanu PF from office, but should be about strengthening our institutional capacity as a nation, institutions that will work for the good of all Zimbabweans.

His argument assumes that Tsvangirai and Ncube, aided by other forces, and forming the next Government, will result in the democratisation of Zimbabwe. Who are its vociferous advocates and lobbyists? The two have been in the Inclusive Government where they both acted with impunity to call for a referendum without giving citizens an opportunity to read through the Draft Constitution. What democracy are they supposed to advance if they believe in the communist approach of ‘guided democracy’ in pursuit of their narrow partisan interests, which do not necessarily represent the whole of Zimbabwe?

The real game changers in the next Harmonised Elections are the 179 489 voters who rejected the Draft Constitution on 16 March 2013 Constitutional Referendum, because I believe these were discerning. They meant what they voted for, based on their understanding of the document. These people are found across the political divide, and it is not known how they will expand their base of influence during voting.

It is time that Zimbabweans vote around issues, systems and institutions and not personalities that might turn out to be worse in our lives. The next Harmonised Elections will be decisive. The citizens have an opportunity to punish errant politicians who think that it is enough to occupy positions, but do very little to justify why they deserve a second chance in the same position. Citizens must form alliances around their issues and demand accountability before the electoral contest from their leaders, challenging them on their short-term decisions.

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