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A shameful betrayal of national Independence - The case for both outthinking ZANU-PF and putting national interest first
Arthur Mutambara
April 18, 2008

Introduction

Fellow citizens once again we commemorate the great occasion of the independence of our country from colonial and imperialist rule. The 18th April should always be an opportunity for us as a nation to reflect, take stock, and define new trajectories. This particular 28th commemoration is like none of the previous ones. We are in uniquely invidious circumstances. Our economy has virtually collapsed and industries have grinded to a halt. Our society is calibrated by fear, terror and outright brutality. Our national institutions of governance have been rendered dysfunctional and impotent. We have had harmonized general elections, and twenty days later the results of the Presidential polls are not yet released. One of the key objectives of the liberation struggle was attainment of the one person one vote dispensation. Twenty eight years after independence our people are denied this basic right. Our country is characterized by extreme illegitimacy where we have an abrasive caretaker President and an illegally constituted Cabinet in cahoots with an imbecilic and cynical military junta, running the affairs of our country. There is heavy army and police presence in our major cities to intimidate ordinary citizens. Opposition supporters are being brutalized and killed in the rural areas under an unprecedented terror campaign.

This is the state of our nation on Independence Day. It is ironic that we should be celebrating the birth of our freedom in the prevailing climate. What a travesty of justice, principle and national interest!

Deconstructing the ZANU-PF Strategy

There is a method to the ZANU-PF madness we have witnessed in the last three weeks. Mugabe's strategy is pure and simple: Regain control of Parliament by criminal and crooked means, win a run-off (or re-run) of the Presidential elections by using brute force and blatant rigging, and thus control the Senate as well. As a result of these efforts, ZANU-PF will be back in complete charge and control of all the three arms of government; The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The second phase of the strategy will then be to force and harangue a bludgeoned and brutalized opposition into a so-called Government of National Unity. This is the strategic plan.

Fellow citizens, make no mistake about it. Mugabe now knows that he will never win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe. The 29th of March made this predicament unequivocally clear. Hence, if he agrees to any new election it is clear that he would have put measures and systems in place to ensure his victory by any means necessary. This is why participation or lack of it in any new election involving Robert Mugabe is a huge decision conundrum for the opposition: Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Let us further interrogate the ZANU-PF game plan. What does Mugabe need to execute his evil strategy? Just a one word answer would do: Time. The key resource that is essential to this regime is time. All that the post election shenanigans have served to do is buy time for the dictatorship to carry out the necessary intimidation and violence, while putting the requisite rigging mechanisms in place. ZANU-PF strategists know that after announcing the results they legally only have three weeks to the run-off. They toyed around with the idea of demanding ninety days, but dropped the proposition on realizing that they could not legally sustain it. The tactic then adopted was to hold onto the results until they have done most of the dirty work, and release the hung Presidential results when they have only three weeks of evil steps to implement. A variation of the plan at that stage is to allege gross and systematic patterns of misconduct and irregularities, declare the Presidential elections null and void, and call for a re-run instead of a run-off. Yes, Robert, we know what's up. However, we are glad that you also know what time it is.

In terms of the House of Assembly, the agenda is to fraudulently seize at least 9 seats from the opposition through recounts and court action leading to re-runs. This explains the twenty-three recounts that ZEC has instituted. There is clearly criminal collusion between ZEC and ZANU-PF. To add insult to injury, this unholy marriage is dutifully consummated by a compliant and pliable judiciary typified and exemplified by Judge Tendai Uchena's unreasonable and thoughtless decision not to order ZEC to release the Presidential results.

For the record, the farce about hung Presidential election results without a clear winner should be rejected with the contempt that it deserves. Mugabe lost the election and Morgan Tsvangirai won with an outright majority. What ZANU-PF has successfully done is to psychologically prepare the nation for a false result through massive propaganda, unmitigated lies and manipulative distortions. It is clear that ZANU-PF's keenness to portray the results as hung means that the results are the opposite; i.e., we have an outright defeat of Robert Mugabe. It is shameful that even regional leaders and the international community have been duped by ZANU-PF's big lie. All these discussions of run-off or re-run options are testimony of, and submission to, the power of a duplicitous ZANU-PF. Mugabe has won the psychological warfare.

It is sad that in all this pervasion and destruction of the Zimbabwean national interest, the illegitimate regime of Robert Mugabe has a partner in crime in the name of the SA President. Yes, Mr. Mbeki there is a crisis in Zimbabwe. We are sick and tired of your shameless antics. You clamour that Zimbabwe is not a Province of South Africa, and yet you treat us worse than your mother's backyard. Whatever credibility and political capital you had left from Polokwane, you are busy dissipating with reckless abandon. This is not how one constructs a basis and rationale for the African Renaissance or New Economic Partnership for Development. Shame on you Thabo Mbeki! Indeed our cup of patience with you has run completely full. How can you be an effective mediator between the Zimbabwean political parties when you show such shameless duplicity, poor judgment and spinelessness? Zimbabwe and Africa deserve better leadership than this.

Let us go to New York. How can we have deafening silence on African matters by African leaders at the UN, and leave our case to be articulated by Western leaders. African solutions for African problems demand proactivity and ownership on the part of the African. We must take charge of our lives and not abdicate on our obligations to the continent. The SADC summit communiqué last Sunday was too timid and apologetic. Hence it was ineffectual. What happened at the UN this Wednesday is not only disgraceful but an affront to African dignity. We must all hang our heads in shame.

The Appropriate Response from the Opposition

On the 29th of March, the people voted for change and against the status quo. The removal of Mugabe and his fellow travelers was the issue, and nothing else. The voter's tactical decision was to elect those perceived to have the best chance of defeating Mugabe. All democratic forces must acknowledge and respect this choice. What is imperative is for all opposition parties to close ranks and make the wishes of the Zimbabwean electorate a reality. In any run-off or re-run of the Presidential Election the support for Morgan Tsvangirai should be total and unconditional. There will be neither equivocation nor ambiguity on that subject. He represents the change that Zimbabweans voted for. The people spoke on the 29th of March. They seek no accommodation with the Dictator or any of his manifestations. All democratic forces must stand with the people in pursuit of the total annihilation of Robert Mugabe and all he stands for.

Going forward, all opposition parties, in particular the two MDC formations must work closely on all matters affecting the national interest. They ought to cooperate in the way they tackle the current political stalemate in our country. There is need to unlock and leverage the collective wisdom, moral authority, bargaining power and numerical strength that is unleashed by a cooperating and united opposition fraternity. History will not absolve this generation of leaders if we falter on this agenda. In fact, we will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Consequently, while the two MDC formations acknowledge that they are two separate political parties, they must irrevocably agree and undertake to work as one in the Legislature. In this regard they will have one Chief Whip and a single Caucus. They will agree to vote together in order to drive the transformational agenda in our country. There must be a solid and binding coalition and co-operation agreement between the two MDC formations. It is our intention it make it clear that our MPs will never vote with the Dictator's Party. We cannot work with criminals, economic saboteurs and social deviants. Under no circumstances will we vote with Robert Mugabe. Hell no, never, ever. Put simply, the opposition is now in charge of Parliament with 109 MPs, period. That's where the game is at Robert. Get over it. The self-serving and speculative hallucination among ZANU-PF apologists must stop. The opposition parties are united in their total onslaught on the regime.

In a way, the people of Zimbabwe and the opposition forces are underestimating the critical role and power of the House of Representatives. This is probably because for the past 28 years it was rendered a docile and ineffectual institution due to its domination by ZANU-PF. Now that we are in control of this legislative organ of the State, let us demonstrate its true function and impact. The 110 opposition Members of Parliament (from the two MDC formations and the Independent MP) must informally convene, immediately. They should elect the Speaker, and outline a comprehensive agenda for the incoming Parliament. Items that should be debated and adopted must include, but not limited to: (1) Impeachment of the caretaker President, Robert Mugabe (2) Removal of AIPPA and POSA (3) Establishment of processes for achieving a people-driven democratic constitution (4) Immediate prosecution of public servants, including military and police officers who are currently abusing their authority (5) Establishment of processes to rationalize the land reform program (6) Setting up of a Truth and Justice Commission for Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina (7) Immediate removal from office, and criminal prosecution of, the RBZ Governor, Gideon Gono (8) Dismantling and reconstitution of ZEC.

Although this gathering of, and resolutions adopted by these 110 MPs will be informal, a framework for the terms of reference of the formally convened House is thus created. As these MPs constitute the majority they will use this informal platform to drive the Parliamentary agenda. This will send shivers down the spines of that illegal cabal running our country, as reality will suddenly sink in. The game is up! We need to demonstrate that Mugabe has lost and that the people have won. Even without the Presidential results we can unequivocally say that the Zimbabwean political landscape will never be the same again. ZANU-PF understands what has happened. They clearly appreciate the significance of their Parliamentary loss. This is why they are busy trying to reverse their poor fortunes through recounts and court actions. The opposition forces must both outthink and outmaneuver these ZANU-PF losers who are running all over the place like headless chickens.

Conclusion

In the history of every nation there comes a time when a generation has a unique opportunity to break with the past and define a new direction. Such a momentous occasion currently presents itself in our country. We need to seize the time and deliver change. This requires putting national interest before partisan, sectoral and personal interests. It demands that we apply our minds and outthink the regime. What Mugabe has lost in the electoral battle, he cannot legitimately regain in any election remotely described as free and fair. He is fatally and mortally wounded. The veil of invincibility has been pierced. On the 29th of March 2008 the people voted for change, and that democratic choice must be defended. Our independence will be meaningless without the sanctity and integrity of the one person one vote principle. Those that rule our country must do so with the consent of the governed.

If a run-off or re-run is illegally imposed upon us, the first order of business is challenging and exposing the illegitimacy of the basis of that proposition. More than ever, it becomes imperative for all the progressive and democratic forces in the country to close ranks in pursuit of the collective national interest. We must seek to establish a peaceful and secure environment for those illegitimate polls. In addition to observation SADC, the AU and the international community must be allowed to supervise these particular elections; before, during and after the voting process. The mandate of the external players must include the verification and announcement of the results. Yes, the regime has behaved worse than East Timor. We now need international supervision. Consequently, the notion of regional sovereignty and the doctrine of international responsibility to protect must now take precedence over Mugabe's narrow definition of national sovereignty. We have lost the right to manage our affairs alone internally. We need help.

However, Zimbabwean citizens will be the key drivers of this revolution. The power is in our hands. Let us stand up and be masters of our destiny. On this occasion of our Independence Day, let us rededicate ourselves to meaningful and total political and economic independence. The people should govern. The people must prosper.

We shall overcome

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