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Comment: Put Zimbabwe before egos

Opinion & Analysis
Once again, as elections loom, there is talk of the opposition in Zimbabwe coalescing under one umbrella to dislodge Zanu PF.

Once again, as elections loom, there is talk of the opposition in Zimbabwe coalescing under one umbrella to dislodge Zanu PF, which has ruled since Independence 32 years ago, and, from 2009, along with but domineering its MDC coalition powers because it holds all the instruments of State power.

NewsDay Editoral

That there could be moves to form such a grand electoral pact makes both political and strategic sense.

It makes political sense because the country needs to move on from the current system as represented by Zanu PF’s unbroken rule which has bred unaccountability and complacency due to the fact that the party has never really embraced democracy in the true sense.

First, there was talk of Marxism-Leninism and a one-party State soon after Independence with people being forced to attest allegiance to Zanu PF.

Then the first post-Independence election saw opposition supporters – mainly belonging to PF-Zapu and the UANC – being hounded out of their homes and their property destroyed and pillaged.

Instead of being magnanimous in victory after their win by a wide margin, Zanu PF, determined to pursue its one-party State quest, unleashed violence on the losers and lives were lost.

Two years later, PF-Zapu was beaten into total submission by having no option but to sign the Unity Accord with Zanu PF after its supporters had been hounded and killed from 1982 during a military lockdown of the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

Whatever justification for that, civilians ought not to have borne the brunt of the clampdown.

There was more political repression with the formation of the MDC in 1999.

Today, we are saddled with an inclusive government because Zanu PF refused to relinquish power after losing in March 2008 and made it impossible for the opposition victor in the first round of the presidential poll, Morgan Tsvangirai, to effectively campaign in the run-up to the runoff in June.

Certainly, the nation needs to free itself from such a brutal and delibilitating political system and there is strength in numbers.

So, it makes political sense for the opposition to unite for elections in order to “fight the common enemy”, as MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart aptly put it last week.

It also makes strategic sense in that the outcome would present opportunities for real change in a country in dire need of that. There is need for a strategic truce to rejuvenate the nation.

Votes need to be spent wisely. We know that there has been a deep fallout between the MDCs and enmity arising from the split in 2005, but, painful as it was and is, people need to realistically assess their electoral chances when they are divided.

That would give Zanu PF a walk-over, that is the brutal truth. There must be no repetition of 2008 when the winners ended losers and vice versa.

What Zanu PF has deteriorated to represent — repression and corruption — needs to be removed.

Difference divides and similarity unites. We believe there are more similarities than differences within the combined opposition vis-à-vis the monstrous system which needs to be removed.

People don’t have to like each other to work together.