RENEWAL Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) leader, Elton Mangoma yesterday rubbished the MDC Alliance deal signed by seven opposition leaders at the weekend, saying the only viable opposition pact comprised of signatories to the Coalition of Democrats (Code), which he claimed had a supreme council to guard against abuse of power.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Mangoma said Code was a better arrangement because it had clear mechanisms to rescue the country from Zanu PF misrule and checks and balances to guard against the recreation of another dictator in the mould of President Robert Mugabe.
“We believe there must be a new narrative and away from the big-man politics to be able to give Zimbabweans a clear alternative path to the Zimbabwe that people want,” he said. Other parties in Code include African Democratic Party, Democratic Assembly for Restoration and Empowerment, Zimbabweans United for Democracy, Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn, Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe, Zapu, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), ZimFirst and MDC.
The recently-born MDC Alliance comprises of MDC-T, MDC, PDP, Transpfrom Zimbabwe, Zanu Ndonga, ZimPF and Multiracial Christian Democrats.
Mangoma said they would curb excessive powers of the President by introducing a supreme council to take charge of institutions under Chapter 12 of the Constitution such as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, among others.
“The supreme council will be made up of five or more individuals, who have got the political and social background to make sure that they give stability to people. They will be fair, as opposed to one person who will have an individual agenda and they will sit as a council to make those decisions,” he said.
“This is the coalition arrangement, where we will make sure that no person becomes too strong and becomes rabid. We must avoid recreating Mugabe in another faction because it is very easy to recreate Mugabe, so we need a different path, which will limit powers that can be abused. Without powers that can be abused we no longer have another Mugabe. We don’t want another Mugabe.”
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Mangoma said there was need to restore the culture of ubuntu (humanism) and do away with fear. He said fear comes in different forms, from the victims to the perpetrators, who fear to be exposed and lose their fortunes amassed in a corrupt manner. The RDZ leader promised to introduce compensation packages for victims of political violence.
“We are coalescing to change the direction in which this country is going. We are not coalescing to compete with the big-man politics, instead we are actually having a culture of a team, where people will be listened to, discussing issues and a culture of delivery,” he said.
