(HERALD ZW) Protests weren’t about fuel prices . . .broader political plot exposed

Monday, January 21, 2019

(HERALD ZW) Protests weren’t about fuel prices . . .broader political plot exposed

COMMENT - The best analysis of the situation is by The Herald:

"the timing of the demonstrations and their violent nature were meant to influence the European Union (EU) to maintain illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe."

Mr Chaibva, a former MDC official, said this had always been the opposition party’s agenda.

“It is the continuation of the MDC-Alliance agenda of August 1, 2018 of trying to make the country ungovernable. The MDC-Alliance are in pursuit of a foreign agenda which started in 2001 – the regime change agenda and the imposition of illegal economic sanctions. It explains the timing of the disturbances when the President is in Eastern Europe and soon in Switzerland. The EU is meeting soon to review economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. They must therefore find an excuse for extension of the sanctions, citing alleged deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. It also explains why they are anxious to petition that the President should not attend the Davos summit,” said Mr Chaibva.

He added: “Let us not be under any illusion that the regime change protagonists are at rest. They are expanding their efforts.”

(HERALD ZW) Protests weren’t about fuel prices . . .broader political plot exposed

A motorist weaves his way past rocks that had been used by MDC rioters to block the road in Harare on Monday

Herald Reporter

The MDC-Alliance instigated violent protests witnessed early this week had nothing to do with an increase in the price of fuel or high cost of living among Zimbabweans, but part of the broader attempt at effecting illegal regime change, analysts said yesterday.

The timing of the protests, targeting of police stations for attacks, inflating of the number of victims by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and petitions to the international community, among other shenanigans by those who initiated the demonstrations, all point to a poorly-concealed political agenda oiled by the country’s traditional foes.

“The fuel issue was only manipulated as a trigger to long-standing efforts to internationalise domestic politics in Zimbabwe in a manner skewed in favour of the MDC-Alliance,” said political analyst, Mr Goodwine Mureriwa.

He said MDC-Alliance was trying to reinforce a false argument that the post-election outcome produced an illegitimate Zanu-PF Government.

He questioned why, if President Mnangagwa’s economic policies were not working, he was not being given the chance to fail instead of engaging in disruptive behaviour.

Mr Mureriwa also said the timing of the demonstrations and their violent nature were meant to influence the European Union (EU) to maintain illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe.

He said it was also aimed at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to impose illegal sanctions on the country.

“This explains why the so-called Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights is inflating the number of those injured to create a pretext for intervention on humanitarian grounds. They want to create a pretext for abuse of human rights, violation of the rule of law and to paint the whole politics of Zimbabwe as undemocratic,” added Mr Mureriwa.

He said this also explained why the demonstrators deliberately targeted police stations for attack.

“They targeted police stations for attack so as to provoke a firm response by the police that could lead to many casualties. Their objective will not be achieved without dead bodies and to strengthen their resolve, they also had to bomb their own offices (Harvest House) to portray Zanu-PF as a doctor of violence, violence which they instigated,” said Mr Mureriwa.

Another analyst who refused to be named said the violent protests were also “to throw spanners in President Mnangagwa’s engagement and re-engagement efforts for Zimbabwe to remain a pariah State”.

He said geopolitically, there were countries which were not happy about the close ties President Mnangagwa was forging with Eurasia due to the lukewarm attitude of the West despite all his reform efforts.

President Mnangagwa is in Eastern Europe on an engagement drive that will also see him in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum.

Another political analysts, Mr Gabriel Chaibva, applauded the security forces for exercising the highest standards of self-restraint in the face of provocation by opposition forces “itching for dead bodies” so as to create a human rights situation in Zimbabwe and the resultant international consequences.

“There is nothing as provocative as trying to get a gun from a soldier or attacking a police station. They were hoping for many dead bodies that would justify their outcry about human rights violations. Let us forget their lie that the protests were about economics. There is a broader political agenda to overthrow Government through unconstitutional means,” said Mr Chaibva.

Mr Chaibva, a former MDC official, said this had always been the opposition party’s agenda.

“It is the continuation of the MDC-Alliance agenda of August 1, 2018 of trying to make the country ungovernable. The MDC-Alliance are in pursuit of a foreign agenda which started in 2001 – the regime change agenda and the imposition of illegal economic sanctions. It explains the timing of the disturbances when the President is in Eastern Europe and soon in Switzerland. The EU is meeting soon to review economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. They must therefore find an excuse for extension of the sanctions, citing alleged deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. It also explains why they are anxious to petition that the President should not attend the Davos summit,” said Mr Chaibva.

He added: “Let us not be under any illusion that the regime change protagonists are at rest. They are expanding their efforts.”

Mr Richard Mahomva said the MDC-Alliance and its partners were hiding behind the new fuel price to cause chaos.

“The violent response to what was an inevitable policy position on the fuel price was a concerted agenda to perpetuate the legacy of 1 August. It is the same old approach of manipulating gullible public emotional outrage to stage a war with ZANU-PF. The underpinning matter here is not the fuel price rise; it is about finding an opportunity to give traction to the ZANU-PF illegitimacy crusade post the 2018 elections,” said Mr Mahomva.

“As one would note, the shutdown plan only excelled in urban opposition hotspots, hence the outcry on the internet jam. From the outset, there was no constructive mechanism to engage a policy alternative and one notes that this is part of the long promised measure by the opposition to make the country ungovernable. Of note is the opposition’s hidden hand in the recent plunder just as was the case in August,” he said.

The Herald is reliably informed that the protests were funded to the tune of US$2 million by a foreign power and were supposed to leave at least 200 people dead.

This, it was planned, would then see the UN Security Council intervening on humanitarian grounds.

Labels: EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, MDC VIOLENCE, ZANU-PF