adminMaxwell Zimuto
IT is now six months since Zimbabwe held its historic July31, 2013 harmonised election. Victory celebrations and congratulatory messages to the winners took centre stage immediately following the announcement of the results and had engulfed the entire nation, reaching epic crescendo during August/September 2013. The celebrations have now disappeared. Zimbabweans are now sober to the realities and vagaries of the political and economic weather. The victors have since taken charge of the affairs of the nation and it is now back to serious business.
Let me take this opportunity to convey my belated warm congratulations to President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and his Party, Zanu-PF for a job well-done. They deserved the sweet victory they had worked so hard for. To my brothers and sisters in the opposition, I say tough luck, but do not despair. We share the pain in equal measure as causalities of the devastating defeat, carrying wounds and scars of various depths and sizes acquired on account of our courage and determination, to contest at the theatre of absurdity against a well-oiled Zanu-PF machinery. This indeed,is a lesson learnt the hard way and we shall always remember it.
Zimbabwe’s political script started in 2008, when the nation went to the polls and produced a disputed election that resulted in the protagonists coming together under the supervision of Sadc, the regional bloc and established some modus-Vivendi that would lead to the formation of the inclusive Government. The major task of the inclusive government was to create a new roadmap towards the holding of fresh, free and fair polls under a new Constitution, drawn and adopted by all the parties to the inclusive Government.
The 2008 election had brought joy and excitement to some while to others it brought anguish and revulsion. The opposition celebrated, a perceived victory democratically won. They vowed to deliver a similar result at the end of the inclusive Government when a fresh plebiscite under a new Constitution was due. On the other hand, Zanu-PF had been badly wounded. They were bitter and angry over the outcome of the election in which they were forced to share power with other political parties for the first time in the entire history of the party, an embarrassing arrangement, vehemently detested by most of its loyalists.
It was not surprising, therefore, when on the inception of the inclusive Government in 2009; Zanu-PF exhibited total disdain and lack of enthusiasm about the power sharing arrangement. They remained a reluctant participant that had been forced into a marriage of convenience throughout the entire life of the inclusive Government. Coincidentally, it also became evident when Zanu-PF started attacking the inclusive Government for lack of cohesion and compatibility; notwithstanding that they were part to it, that they had shifted their focus to a fresh poll which they hoped to win. In-fact the “we cannot deliver because of the contradictions in the inclusive Government” rhetoric, became Zanu-PF‘s war cry during the entire 2013 campaign period. In their scheme of things, a battle which had been lost at the 2008 poll, to which they had suffered immeasurable embarrassment, had to be reversed and reversed as a matter of urgency at any conceivable cost through a fresh poll. Zanu-PF had thus started its preparation for a mother of all elections which they were determined to win and restore the dignity and integrity lost at the 2008 plebiscite.
In my congratulatory remark right at the beginning of the article I made mention of the fact that Zanu-PF had worked hard for the victory they got at the 2013 poll. Indeed, I stand by that but perhaps I should go further to qualify and justify my assertion.
Zanu-PF started its 2013 campaigns in earnest in 2009. I have already stated that they remained contemptuous of the inclusive Government throughout its life. Only in cases where their interests were at stake, would they come out and purport to support the inclusive Government. Equally, they respected the regional bloc and its facilitator to Zimbabwe, only to the extent that they passionately hoped to get the sadc support to gain the legitimacy and international recognition they badly needed after the 2013 poll. So, Zanu-PF kept its eyes open and maintained a close check on the behaviour of the regional bloc.
When Zanu-PF embarked on its trail blazing campaign to regain lost pride, they employed a foray of stratagems to win the minds of the voters. Their central message evolved around the land revolution, black empowerment and indigenisation. These economic issues remained the unwritten part of Zanu-PF’s campaign manifesto. To this, some jingoistic gloss was added. Then,the package was wrapped inbellicose rhetoric against both the imperialists and their puppets with some explanatory footnote to the electorate, warning them to be wary of the incompatibility caused by the inclusive Government and why it was necessary to get rid of the GNU by overwhelmingly voting for Zanu-PF. The strategy worked and the result is now in the public domain, left entirely to historians to content analyse and preserve as part of the nation’s treasured history.
We saw the Zanu-PF campaign teams criss-cross the country not once but several times in search of support from the electorate. President Mugabe and his campaign teams traversed the width and breath of Zimbabwe, visiting almost all the 10 provinces and establishing community share ownership trusts which would benefit the communities through their participation in the sharing of the country’s natural resources. Traditional leaders unflinchingly declared their support to Zanu-PF at which, and in a spirit of quid pro quo, they were in turn promised more authority, to enable them to administer matters relating to land allocations. Captains of industries, business people and economists were not left out. They also had the opportunity to mix and mingle with the Zanu-PF leadership at some business forums organised to sell the party’s economic policies. They were challenged by the Zanu-PF leadership, to be more creative and innovative and to come up with economic ideas that would be incorporated and used to turn around the economy. The industrialists were, however, reminded that, in Zanu-PF’s broader economic matrix, the Zimbabwean economy was only transformable when more natural resources came under the control of the indigenous people, supervised by a Zanu-PF government not the inclusive Government.
The campaign epistle did not end there; it was taken further to churches where President Mugabe and the First Lady, met multitudes of the Apostolic Church sect followers. The First family, donning white gowns, and with the President carrying the Prophet’s stick, mingled and chatted with God’s flock after which,the latter addressed the responsive crowds. Such mobilisation of phenomenally large crowds must have been made to show the opposition that Zanu-PF meant serious business about the election.
As further demonstration of Zanu-PF’s unflinching desire to win the election, the Central Committee or is it the Politburo, held a meeting that lasted the whole night at which they reviewed the Draft Constitution. They identified several crucial areas of the Draft Constitution they wanted amended before its adoption. This happened at the very time when the opposition insisted that they were happy with the draft constitution and that they were pushing for its adoption as soon as possible.
While the political melodrama was unfolding before the very eyes of the opposition, they looked on unperturbed and instead, dismissed Zanu-PF maneuvers as the desperate acts of a regime that had lost credibility and was running out of ideas. Even when Zanu-PF moved a gear up and embarked on massively attended provincial rallies which were addressed by the party President, R.G Mugabe; this did not change the views of the opposition. The large attendances were instead, dismissed as rented crowds that were being recycled from one province to the other to spruce up Zanu-PF’s dented image before the polls.
The road to July 31 2013 election was peaceful. Campaigns were held in a democratic, peaceful and friendly environment. All the participating parties expressed satisfaction with the state of calmness that prevailed. The election was finally held on July 31 2013under very peaceful conditions.
Maxwell Zimuto is the Secretary General of MDC-M, here he expresses his personal opinion.
Online Reporter