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Election date threats: who is prepared
Jack Zaba
April 29, 2013

With almost seventy days left before the 29th of June Zimbabweans have once again been subjected to a debate over the suitable date when the country should conduct its post-transitional elections.

Once again, the Zanu-PF party which for the past four years have been issuing annual election “date threats” wielding the misunderstood power President Mugabe possesses with regards to the proclamation of election dates and times at which elections can be conducted. Yearly from 2010 onwards, the revolutionary party has been making public declarations through its officials and even at party conferences or congresses. In almost all such declarations, the Zanu-PF party, or at least its key party officials exuded hope that their party will succeed in rallying the nation into a premature election, but such push for elections has evidently failed.

As the coalition government reaches its denouement, the typical threats are being heightened and apparently strengthened by the reality that the tenure of the current Parliament inevitably ends by the 29th of June 2013. Be that as it may, Zanu-PF and some of its backers seem to favour the occurrence of elections in the absence of mandatory constitutional, institutional and electoral reforms.

Critically, it is important for Zimbabweans to note that following the 2008 election debacle, the nation, through the GPA set out to sanitize the fouled political and electoral environment as a precondition before the conduction of another electoral event.

From that departure the issue of election dates in Zimbabwe ceased to be a matter of ordinary legal requirements, but clearly a question of having completed necessary reforms as precursor to the conduction of elections with integrity which would result into a legitimate governing authority. It is from that understanding that Zanu-PF and the two MDCs in government agreed to suspend the conduction of dozens of by-elections since April 2008 resulting in some constituencies, Gokwe Gumunyu for instance, going for nearly 5 years without representation in parliament.

Why is it that the call for elections features prominently a party which is currently bedevilled by extreme intra-party division and apparently is yet to agree on guidelines for candidate selection within their party, let alone preparing the ultimate candidates to compete effectively against opponents who by now are more experienced and better probably better organized?

With regard to the consistent threats of election dates, it is important to discern some possible explanations why a seemingly a weakened ZANU PF is exhibiting readiness to contest in a gruelling election even during their moments of weakness.

Firstly, there seems to be a group of the party’s strategists who are advising them that the moment you make a “date threat” all your political opponents will immediately collapse into a state of panic and immediately expose their often hidden election strategies. Following that panic, Zanu-PF will then be able to learn from the opposition strategies so exposed whilst perfecting its own election strategy. This explanation has largely remained an illusion as prominent opponents to the party have kept their key strategies under lock preferring instead to dismiss Zanu-PF wishes either politically or legally in courts.

Secondly, it is also reasonable to believe that Zanu-PF “date threats” are meant to ensure that their party supporters remain galvanized within the framework of the gargantuan hurdle for survival facing them at the next general election. Following the 2008 shock after losing to the MDCs, the party has learnt that none can ever understand the shrewdness of the Zimbabwean voter. Yes the military might subjugate them into attending party rallies, but that’s never a guarantee that the same voters will vote for the party which would have flogged them into attending party activities. From such an understanding the “date threat” might be focused at containing internal party functionaries in an election mode at the same time deflecting their possible preoccupation with internal party fissures so that they collectively would feel the common goal is to reclaim lost ground from the democratic forces.

Thirdly, the constant “election date threats” might be a ploy by Zanu-PF to deflect their opponent’s attention from focusing on mobilizing and preparing their supporters to vote at the next general election. Knowing that the MDCs have a proclivity towards exhausting their energies on seeking legal recourse, the threat for elections probably aims at deceiving the other parties to relax whilst expending their mental and material resources on legal pursuits. Meanwhile Zanu-PF would be mobilizing its own supporters to register and be ready for an election before announcing an election date which gives the other parties little time to prepare.

It therefore remains critical for the democratic forces to adopt a dual strategy in dealing with the possible date for the next general elections in Zimbabwe. The dual strategy would entail that as debate over when elections could be held continues, concerned stakeholders might challenge the propositions using available democratic channels, but more importantly, such political formations must invest more energy on ensuring that their supporters are enfranchised to vote by being registered voters.

There has to be an unwavering position within the democratic forces to the effect that the upcoming elections are a matter of completing the necessary reforms first since the country cannot afford another failed election.

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