ZANU PF one-party State ambitions may have been derailed in 1989 by Edgar Tekere and university students, but Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi revealed the party’s ambitions to resurrect the idea, however, in a very subtle way through Constitution Amendment No 3 Bill that is before Parliament.
Soon after the 1980 independence, Zanu PF at the highest level started working on trying to make Zimbabwe a one-party State, like all socialist states then.
The early 1980s state genocide against the Ndebeles was well-calculated to crush the second biggest party then, PF Zapu, for good.
After five years of atrocities in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, Zanu PF initiated the unification of the two biggest parties Zanu and PF Zapu into Zanu PF through a unity agreement.
Former PF Zapu cadres were structurally designated second vice-presidents in the emerging new party.
This has not changed in the last 40 years.
Ndebeles cannot dream of ever leading the country.
But let us analyse Ziyambi’s speech for a moment.
- Corruption Watch: Get scared, 2023 is coming
- Corruption Watch: Get scared, 2023 is coming
- Letters: Ensuring Africa’s food security through availability of quality seeds
- Is military's involvement in politics compatible with democracy?
Keep Reading
He said: “Direct presidential election was only introduced in 1987 through Constitution Amendment Number 7 in the context of the Unity Accord and the then anticipated one-party State.
“Those defending the direct elections as an axiomatic democratic principle are defending an arrangement younger than our independence, adopted for a purpose this house would not endorse today.
“Unless the House wants to turn the country into a one-party State, then we go for a direct presidential election for the purpose that it was introduced. In the first place, it was for us to have a one-party State.”
Zanu PF is holding the people to ransom.
In other words, it is saying give us one-party State and it gives you direct presidential election in return.
It wants to be the only party and have the country have a homogenous ideology — chiganandarism.
Chiganandarism is the leadership by a small elite that relies on a small network of pseudo-capitalists, whose wealth is built from State tenders.
On the surface, it seems like Zanu PF is being reasonable, but a closer look at what Ziyambi says next exposes the party’s hypocrisy.
“Based on the 2023 voters roll, Harare, Manicaland, Mashonaland West and Midlands together accounted for 3 540 000 voters of the country’s 6 600 000 registered voters, more than half the national total. In a direct popular vote, of course with a possible runoff, you know candidates get 50 plus 1,” Ziyambi said, before adding: “It is entirely possible for a candidate to secure outright victory with overwhelming majorities in these just four provinces while losing the other six entirely or even if larger parts of the republic cast no vote at all. So, these four provinces, even if everyone else does not vote, can actually ensure that happens.”
Here lies the problem.
Zanu PF has awoken to the idea that it cannot win a national election and, therefore, it is dangerous to have a direct presidential election.
It is, therefore, proposing to neutralise this threat by an indirect election of the President.
Let’s not lose sight of the changes Zanu PF is making to the electoral system.
It proposes to take the voter registration back to the civil registry where it has unlimited control and secondly, taking away delimitation powers from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and giving them away to a Delimitation Commission appointed and answerable to the President.
Zanu PF since 1990, the first constituency-based election, has mastered the art of gerrymandering.
It understands the science of delimitation of constituencies in a manner that gives it an electoral advantage.
We have seen constituencies like Harare South, Harare East and Zvimba East being created, bringing farms together with city dwellers.
This was all and still intended to dilute the urban vote.
Secondly, Ziyambi correctly notes that Harare, Manicaland, Mashonaland West and Midlands provinces have more than half of the registered voters.
Why then do they have less than 50% of the National Assembly seats?
Zanu PF deliberately and subtly uses delimitation to steal the equality of votes from the people.
In other words, delimitation is used to retain power for Zanu PF and use the compromised constituency to create a result in Parliament that lets it elect its preferred presidential candidate.
This is rigging.
One other big lie which Zanu PF is using is the indirect presidential elections in South Africa and Botswana.
Yes, it is true that both countries have relative political stability, peaceful elections and are economically doing better than Zimbabwe.
However, Zanu PF deliberately ignores that both countries use proportional representation electoral system and have established an independent Judiciary.
Proportional representation is truly representative when each party is represented in Parliament proportionally to its national support.
Interestingly, Zanu PF deliberately does not speak about provincial devolution and autonomy of local authorities in both Botswana and South Africa.
These two factors, devolution and autonomy of local authorities, has spurred much of the development we see in these countries, unlike Zimbabwe, where everything is centralised and credited to the President.
Zanu PF has further deliberately not told Parliament and Zimbabweans that the last two South African presidents — Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma — were removed before completing their terms of office, but the South African State did not collapse.
Zanu PF knows that revealing this open secret exposes that it is a party united by personality cults, a system that sees its leaders as deity and irreplaceable before they meet their natural demise.
Whatever abuse of its parliamentary majority and the bribing of opposition MPs, Zanu PF has exposed its real intentions — building a one-party state one way or the other.
French political leader and lawyer, Maximillien Robespierre said: “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping the ignorant.”
All ye men and women of Zimbabwe, judge for yourself what Zanu PF has done.
It wants to keep you ignorant that its tyranny may thrive.
I’m out!
- Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist based in Harare. He writes here in his personal capacity.
