7 September 2003
THE trouncing of the ruling party by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC) in the recent elections presents yet another opportunity for Zanu PF to pause, take stock of what it means and the direction in which they are taking this country.
Make no mistake. The ruling party was well and truly trounced; they should not have the gall to pretend otherwise. Instead, we strongly feel that it is time for Zanu PF to calmly reflect on it, to make a serious historical and critical analysis of the Zimbabwean society as it is now and to draw the necessary conclusions and lessons for the future.
How is it that a party whose political tradition is steeped in the revolutionary and democratic culture of Zimbabwe, and whose legitimacy was not in doubt in 1980, could fail to read the signs of the fast-changing times? For indeed it is a far cry from the euphoria that greeted its coming to power in April 1980. Popular disaffection is now translating into big losses in every election since the February 2000 referendum.
Save for the areas where MDC candidates were barred from registering by the ruling party militia and thugs, Zanu PF took a severe battering. Political intimidation and violence once again ruled the day in areas such as Marondera, Kwekwe, Bindura, Karoi and Kadoma and it was hardly surprising that Zanu PF won in these areas.
It is not in the medium and long-term interest of Zanu PF to be seen to be intimidating opposition candidates into not registering for the electoral process. Those who intend to govern can only do so through the consent of the people. Political legitimacy can only be achieved through a transparent, free and fair electoral process. And that is why Zimbabweans struggled for national liberation since the 1890s until independence was achieved in 1980.
It was never for Zanu PF to rule in perpetuity. There is a crying need - and responsibility - for Zanu PF to understand the reasons for its rejection by the voters rather than burying their heads in the sands each time defeat stares them in the face. And, in opposition, Zanu PF can examine what went wrong, renew and rejuvenate itself and come back to fight another day.
For it is only when a party is in opposition that it can have the time to reflect and rebuild its political machine. When this happens, a tradition of true democracy of in-and-out-of-power would have been truly established in Zimbabwe. To win stability is much more important than winning elections.
Democracy is a work in progress and men and women of goodwill in Zanu PF can help in this whole process by not only acknowledging the successes of the ruling party in some areas but also acknowledging its grand failures in others. This is the only way to strengthen the democratic process in the country.
Zanu PF is now paying the price for the destruction of the country. It is tragically underestimating the dissatisfaction and enormous suffering in a country where a family of six needs $181 000 worth of groceries each month but the minimum wage is $47 000 a month. There is popular discontent - the urban-rural divide, wedged by Zanu PF for political expediency, notwithstanding.
Repression and despair is at the very heart of all the Zanu PF politics in Zimbabwe at the moment. And it is suicidal for President Mugabe and his lieutenants to remain, or give the impression of remaining, in dangerous ignorance of what is going on in the country. We should indeed ask the ruling party whether the freedom that Zimbabweans fought for was a freedom for a small clique to rule forever and benefit from this chaos and the freedom of the rest of us to suffer along?
As long as Zanu PF remains defiant and refuses to acknowledge its mistakes and do something to correct them, the MDC bulldozer will be unstoppable. In an important way, this development in democracy should augur well for the people of Zimbabwe. Whether few people bothered to vote is neither here nor there. The opposition won and that is very significant.
In fact, it is a worldwide trend that fewer and fewer people are turning out to vote in elections. For some reason, there is now a tendency to withdraw from politics. Zimbabwe is not alone in this although it has to be acknowledged that given the crisis that has engulfed this country, which has seen people queuing for long hours for-of all things-their hard earned cash, it is only when people exercise their democratic right to vote that a reversal of this downward spiral can be effected.
Be that as it may, it is heartening to see that democracy in Zimbabwe is evolving quite rapidly-thanks to the formidable challenge to Zanu PF by MDC. Monopoly of power by one party leads to complacency and arrogance and is dangerous to the well being of the country in the long run.
So, in reality, the profound crisis which the ruling party and the country as a whole is undergoing may yet prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2003 Zimbabwe Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
