Thursday, July 12, 2007

MDC must be responsible

MDC must be responsible
By Reason Wafawarova

IT is unbelievable, indeed shameful that at a time we should all be ganging up against imperialist forces bent on destroying our nationhood, there are some among us who are not only doing nothing but shamelessly availing themselves at the disposal of the brutal forces working against us.

It is mind boggling to imagine that those in the MDC have chosen to showcase their usual double-minded approach to everything by trying to undermine the Sadc initiative, being spearheaded by South Africa.

That feuding MDC leaders have teamed up with the self-anointed representative of the church, a self-styled activist running an organisation claiming to have the mandate to write a national constitution and an overzealous student under the illusion he is the custodian of all students, testifies to this.

That this is happening at a time talks meant to help Zimbabwe pull in the same direction only goes to show that the so-called democratic forces are nothing more than destructive forces that every well-meaning Zimbabwean should be wary of.

It is amazing that MDC leaders and their allies in the so-called civil society have the temerity to brag about their shameful trip meant during which they sought to outdo each in selling-out.

In reality, the European tour by the feuding opposition forces was a mere competition for recognition by the members of the delegation; a competition meant to get gullible westerners to loosen the purse strings.

The Save Zimbabwe Campaign team was made up of renegades who need to be educated on the basics of serving Zimbabwe before they can even think of saving it. The important question begging a speedy answer is how MDC leaders and their allies intend to save Zimbabwe by teaming up with the same people working to bring the country to its knees?

They may be pleasing themselves, their masters and their supporters but they should rest assured that they are not doing their 2008 campaign any good as their tour was viewed as the epitome of treachery by discerning Zimbabweans.

MDC leaders were also insulting Sadc as their Western campaign was a direct slap in the face of those working at finding common ground between the main political players in Zimbabwe.

The same goes for the African Union that recently reiterated its support for Zimbabwe in Accra.

MDC leaders are also slighting the United Nations by undermining the world body’s position that Zimbabwe is not an acceptable candidate for sanctions.

However, they are doing the hawks in the European Union a world of good by proving to be good, faithful stooges.

Those who have played similar roles in the Middle East, some parts of Africa, South America and even Asia have traditionally operated as exiled politicians, carrying out their treacherous missions from the bases of their masters. The situation is, however, quite different for the MDC in that it operates from the same Zimbabwe it is working to destroy, and in the process confirm the country’s democratic credentials.

Of course, none of the quislings will ever admit that Zimbabwe is a democracy that tolerates divergent views, which is why they can pursue their ruinous mischief at will.

Zimbabweans have the freedom to form political parties of their choice, even treacherous ones. MDC leaders are free to openly deride the living and fallen heroes of our liberation struggle at will, hiding their mischief under the cover of freedom of expression.

MDC leaders have no qualms vilifying the same system that makes it possible for them to exist as a political party, even though their activities would have invited a ban in less democracies.

Tsvangirai and Mutambara flying in and out of Zimbabwe, because they have freedom of movement and association, they back rabid online websites that tell the world everything but the truth, all in the name of Press freedom.

They associate with all sorts of subversive characters, because they enjoy freedom of association. They are blissfully unaware that their Western masters outlawed Communist Parties in their countries, simply because they were identified with the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In fact, the MDC and its allies enjoy so much freedom and rights that they are now convinced that it is their "democratic" right to unconstitutionally unseat an elected government. They believe that to the extent of publicly declaring a "defiance campaign" and a war against the police. They are even more than convinced that a speech that threatens the violent removal of a sitting President is well within their "democratic" rights.

MDC leaders will tell their supporters that urban orgies of violence disguised as mass actions are a "democratic" attempts to unseat a Government in a country where the majority of people, over 70 percent, live in the rural areas.

They are convinced that putting screws on one’s own economy by way of campaigning for isolation is well within "democratic" rights.

It is high time the MDC and like-minded organisations and individuals are reminded that yes, they do have a lot of legitimate rights under the international human rights regime but those rights will only yield benefits if one takes up the responsibility that goes with the enjoyment of such rights.

Irresponsible people should not expect to benefit from the rights at their disposal. It is the simple rule of sowing; you can’t sow a mango seed and expect to see a guava tree germinating.

The MDC needs to be reminded that the right to gather or assemble comes with a lot of responsibility and most certainly, planning violent protests and inciting people to revolt against the Government is not responsibility. MDC leaders need to know that they have every right to hop in and out of Zimbabwe at will but that their forays also demand responsibility.

Again, flying out to campaign for sanctions and increased suffering for one's own people is being responsible, it is simply unacceptable and Zimbabwe has had enough of such shameless betrayal.

The right to free expression is at everyone’s disposal but it comes with responsibility. Certainly, lies, exaggerations, foul language and running "houses of lies" in the name of media houses is not part of the expected responsibility.

Fighting police officers in an attempt to effect illegal regime change cannot pass for the responsibility expected under freedom of expression, assembly or protest.

The current double standards being shown by MDC leaders that see them pretend to be willing participants in inter-party talks on one hand, while embarking on an anti-Zimbabwe campaigns in Europe on the other is just what we have all along seen of this quisling party.

MDC leaders hail election results that go in their favour as free and fair, and reject all outcomes that go against them as fraudulent. They purport to love the very people for whom they create massive suffering by grovelling for ruinous Western sanctions.

They take part in parliamentary elections and conveniently boycott elections where they see pending defeat and claim to be doing so out of commitment to democratic principles.

They say the land reform programme is failing because it is not well supported with machinery and inputs and loudly cry in protest when the inputs and machinery are delivered.

They cry that the economy is bad but stand up to protest every effort to turn around the same economy. To them, the only legitimate economic growth that Zimbabwe can ever have must be under an MDC government.

MDC leaders must assure Zimbabweans where they are going to get interest for Zimbabwe’s national interest if ever they are elected to power. Right now, they do not only lack appreciation for the national interest, they actually stand as prime enemies to the national interest in all its forms, that is the economic interest, the ideological interest and the cultural interest.

What drives their hearts, souls and spirits are western interests, all because of the motivation they derive from the power of treacherous silver in the form of foreign donations.

Agreed, this is a one-sided analysis of part of the political process in Zimbabwe and that is deliberate and for a purpose. That purpose is to tell the MDC that Zimbabwe is getting sick and tired of bei ng taken for a ride in circles of treacherous madness.

People may want change, indeed they do, but not the MDC kind of change geared at destroying the economy in the hope of rebuilding it under an opposition dispensation. Zimbabweans want economic development and ownership of their economy in all its forms.

If Zimbabwe is to have a change of government then the alternative government must be made up of well-meaning and loyal citizens who have the national interest at heart; not the hopeless donor mongers who are masquerading as opposition politicians today.

It is a tragedy to have an opposition party that takes part in elections as a civilised political party that then turns itself into a rebel movement seeking to topple the sitting government between elections. That is what we have seen of the MDC since 2000 and one wonders what would happen if Zanu-PF was organising counter-violent marches to overthrow local governments in places like Bulawayo, Masvingo and other urban areas under MDC control.

It is high time the MDC started acting in good faith and Zimbabwe hopes for a better opposition sooner than later.

l Reason Wafawarova is a Zimbabwean writer living in Australia; he can be contacted on wafawarova@yahoo.co.uk.

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1 Comments:

At 2:28 PM , Blogger Chola Mukanga said...

MrK,

You have raised some very important points with regards to MDC. The Brendan Stone article was very useful indeed. I now share it with Zimbabweans at will. I have a copy of new world bank paper on Zimbabwe's agriculture which I'll share with you the moment I get permission from the author (a father of my friend - Zimbabwean).

On MDC and Mugabe...see my latest blog:

http://zambian-economist.blogspot.com/2007/07/musings-on-post-mugabe-zimbabwe.html

 

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