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(ZIMPAPERS) 2011 a watershed year for Zimbabwe

2011 a watershed year for Zimbabwe
Saturday, 01 January 2011 21:05 Features

A HECTIC political environment awaits Zimbabwe in 2011, with the harmonised elections and the constitutional referendum set to dominate the calendar.

The busy political year will be reminiscent of 2000 in terms of holding the two events in the same year. In 2000, the constitutional referendum was held in February followed by parliamentary elections in June.

The only difference is that while only parliamentary elections were held in 2000, this year’s plebiscite is expected to include presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.

The harmonised elections will mean that more financial resources and efforts need to be put in by the organisers.
While the MDC-T is quivering at the thought of an election, Zanu-PF has made it clear that it is ready for the watershed vote that is set to end the short life of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

In fact, analysts note that by trying to avoid elections, the MDC-T is trying to trash the GPA.
When the GPA was signed by Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC-M, it was given a lifetime of two years.

Elections were expected to take place at the expiry of the two years, starting with a constitutional referendum.
Political observers note that by calling for the elections, President Mugabe is actually fulfilling the provisions of the GPA.
The GPA’s life will expire next month and the agreement is that elections should be held soon to confirm its end.

Zanu-PF resolved at its 11th National People’s Conference in Mutare last month that elections should be held without failure.

Analysts say the New Year presents challenges for political parties, with the MDC formations becoming desperate in every respect.

Political analyst Mr Godwin Mureriwa believes Zanu-PF will romp to victory in next year’s elections and the thought of this reality has caused confusion in the opposition.
He said MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai had lost political mileage because of the damage wrought by the WikiLeaks revelations as well as the intra-party divisions rocking his formation.

“The MDC has been having serious problems because of a leadership crisis after Mr Tsvangirai tampered with the party’s constitution,” said Mr Mureriwa.
“Many senior members of the party are not happy with his leadership and a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Mr Mureriwa said the WikiLeaks revelations had exposed Tsvangirai’s leadership flaws, thereby lowering his stock in the eyes of voters.
“The WikiLeaks have portrayed Mr Tsvangirai as a weak leader who is inconsistent and unable to take a stand unlike his rival President Mugabe,” he said.

“As such he is likely to lose his appeal to voters.

“The voters are now aware of Tsvangirai’s allegiance to imperialism and they are likely to be national in outlook when they vote.”

The WikiLeaks cables portray Mr Tsvangirai as a man in confusion and too weak to lead Zimbabwe.

A lot is expected on the political front this year if resolutions by the Mutare Zanu-PF conference are anything to go by.

There is no doubt that Zanu-PF is still the dominant force in Zimbabwe’s political environment and has been setting the agenda.

This shows that the party commands a lot of support from the people who still entrust it with crucial decisions.

Heart-breaking moments are also expected after the elections as a newly elected government takes office, with some Government ministers vacating office.

Many of the former ministers will obviously return to private life as they suddenly find themselves with absolutely nothing to preoccupy them.
Some will return to their former occupations as lecturers, teachers, farmers and “paupers”.

A political analyst, Mr Gabriel Chaibva, said national political affairs are expected to dominate the new year.

But he said the MDC-T was expected to come out the loser as it faced grim prospects this year.

“The MDC-T is doomed in 2011 because the party has shown that it is working against the people,” said Mr Chaibva.

“By nicodemously calling for sanctions, the MDC-T has distanced itself from the people and shown that it prefers to wine and dine with imperialists rather than with the electorate.”

Mr Chaibva said Zanu-PF had shown its allegiance to the people by championing the indigenisation and economic empowerment drive.

The popular party was also fighting for the country to sell its diamonds in the face of hostility from some Western countries.

Mr Chaibva said it was surprising that the MDC-T had developed cold feet over
elections, yet the party was the first to call for early polls.

“People forget that it was the MDC-T that started calling for elections even before President Mugabe called for them,” he said.

“But now it is clear that the party has developed cold feet and they are quaking in their boots because they are staring defeat in the face.”

Drama is also expected, especially if Zanu-PF implements the resolutions it made at its annual conference last month.

One of the conference’s major resolutions was the call for the prosecution of all those who invite sanctions to be imposed on the country.

The conference resolved as follows: “ . . . directs the party to call upon the Government to enforce the law of treason against any individual, corporate body or entity which calls for the imposition and/ or maintenance of sanctions or any other measures harmful, injurious and or deleterious to the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe”.

The resolution is expected to be a major watershed for the political fortunes of Zimbabwe.

Analysts note that it is time the Government took tough measures against those bent on reversing the gains made since independence.

Illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries have been condemned in the past, but this time it seems a decisive measure against them is being taken.

If the Western countries do not relent on their illegal sanctions, this year might also see companies originating from such countries being taken over for indigenisation.

President Mugabe has since made it clear that Zimbabwe has been too soft on its enemies and it is time to take reciprocal measures against illegal sanctions.

“Why should we continue to have companies and organisations that are supported by America and Britain without hitting them back?” he told the Zanu-PF people’s conference in Mutare last month.

“The time has come for us to revenge and one way of (doing this) is for us to use the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.

“That Act gives us authority to take over the companies.

“We can begin with 51 percent, but in some cases we must read the riot act and say this is only 50 percent, but if you do not lift the sanctions then we will take 100 percent.”

Political analysts note that the decision to prosecute those who call for sanctions and taking over 100 percent of foreign companies were the major issues to come out of the Zanu-PF conference.

If these pro-people resolutions are implemented, the country will open a new chapter in both the political and economic spheres.

But it is the expected harmonised elections and the constitutional referendum that are expected to dominate the political landscape.

The results of the two plebiscites will, no doubt, have far-reaching effects on the country.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), ROBERT MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 7:12 PM