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Zimbabwe is now 33 years old and it is our belief that the country has matured politically. The era of throwing stones, burning houses and fighting each other to gain political mileage is over. At independence in 1980, there were very few political parties and the major parties were Zanu-PF and PF-Zapu, the two liberation movements which brought about independence after a protracted liberation struggle.
Cadres of these two liberation movements sacrificed their lives to liberate us from the yoke of colonialism. Today Zimbabweans enjoy the right to elect leaders of their choice be it in council or government because of the sacrifice of these gallant sons and daughters of the soil. The country today has a plethora of political parties, a confirmation that the country enjoys freedom of association. What we should however not forget is that this right to form political parties, the right to vote and the right to belong to a political party was fought for.
The country is already preparing for the harmonised elections which once again afford Zimbabweans the opportunity to decide their own destiny. We have already stated that the era of coercing people into voting for a political party or an individual is over. What individuals seeking public office or political parties seeking the mandate to govern the people need to do is to market their policies and programmes to the electorate. The challenge therefore is for individuals or political parties to win the electorate to their side through persuasion as opposed to coercion.
The President, Cde Mugabe, has been on a crusade urging people to refrain from engaging in violence. He has on many fora warned leaders of political parties against coercing people into supporting them. Cde Mugabe’s party Zanu-PF has in fact come up with a code of conduct for those seeking to be elected on the party ticket. The code, among other things, states that those that engage or incite supporters to engage in violence are automatically disqualified from seeking office under the party ticket. Zanu-PF like the rest of other political parties conducted primaries to select candidates for presidential, parliamentary and council elections and the candidates that won filed their nomination papers with the Nomination Court yesterday.
The primaries, like the general elections, are a bruising battle between candidates fighting for the right to represent the party. There were incidences of intra- party violence especially among the MDC-T supporters forcing the party to suspend primaries in a number of constituencies. It is such conduct that has no room in a country that has been independent for 33 years. It is said that charity begins at home so peace and tolerance should start at party level. It is time politicians understand that contesting for political office is just like any other competition where there are winners and losers.
Those that lose should accept that there is always a next time and work with the winners. It is therefore comforting and pleasing to learn that Zanu-PF heavyweights who lost the elections to newcomers have not only accepted defeat but have pledged to work with the winners. This is as it should be. The peace and harmony as already stated should start at party level. It is this tolerance demonstrated by Zanu-PF heavyweights which should prevail even after the general elections.
Those who lose in general elections should accept defeat and work with the winners for the development of the country. It is the electorate which gives individuals the mandate to run public offices through voting them into power and anyone who works against the winners is in fact working against the will of the people. Those that successfully filed their nomination papers yesterday now have the mammoth task of convincing the electorate to vote for them.
The party or individuals campaigns should be peaceful and no individual should be forced to attend a campaign meeting as doing so will be infringing on individuals’ liberty. Those that coerce people into attending their campaign meetings risk deceiving themselves into believing they have the support of the people when in fact they do not have.
We want to once again implore politicians to employ persuasive means to market their programmes and policies as opposed to using force. Zimbabweans should be allowed to vote for individual or political parties of their choice without being coerced because that is what the gallant sons and daughters that participated in the liberation struggle sacrificed their lives for.
Online Reporter