Attempted Political Suicide

ZANU P.F ‘S ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

 By Dumisani O Nkomo

The disastrous attempt by ZANU P.F to unilaterally declare the 31^st of July 2013 as the election date has proven to be an act of unprecedented suicide by the former ruling party which had to bear the indignity of a colossal diplomatic defeat in Maputo at the hands of the M.D.C formations .Whilst observers have noted that ZANU P.F shot itself on the foot my opinion is that they shot themselves on the head and not the foot.

SADC Diplomatic Defeat

The SADC Extra ordinary summit on Zimbabwe was in itself a huge diplomatic defeat for Robert Mugabe and  ZANU P.F in that in the first place the party fought tooth and nail to ensure that the summit did not happen .They tried to delay the summit as it became clear that they were not ready for  the regional body and the subsequent resolutions that emanated from there .Reports clearly indicate that Professor Welshman Ncube floored and mauled ZANU P.F with a polished and eloquent presentation focussing on the legal morass brought about by the unilateral declaration by Mugabe. He was ably assisted by Morgan Tsvangirai who made a mature and stately presentation. Mugabe had clearly identified Ncube as an obstacle and had tried to isolate him from the meetings of the principals and the summit proved why as the man was simply on fire and; an earlier tag team with Tsvangirai would have long resulted in reforms and results .Tsvangirai on the other hand found a worthy tag team partner and must be kicking himself as to why he sided with Mugabe in sidelining Ncube  who has proved to be a political colossus on the negotiating table

Regional Isolation

The SADC resolutions which included the  immediate annulling of   Mugabe’s fast tracked “ reforms” or is it “deforms “to the electoral  laws through presidential powers and the need to pass the laws through parliament .Importantly Minister Patrick Chinamasa was asked to approach the Constitutional Court to seek an extension to the election date and  SADC also demanded reforms to AIPPA and POSA .Quite clearly SADC is taking a hard line stance to ZANU P.F ‘s  chicanery and the ailing ruling party is being increasingly isolated in the region  .

International Attention

The election quagmire has not only attracted the attention of SADC but also the African Union which has already dispatched an observer mission .This means it may be very difficult for ZANU P.F to engage in open acts of unilateralism or overt violence .They have invited the international community to one’s again focus on Zimbabwe and in doing so scored a spectacular own goal.

Uniting Enemies

The unilateral act by Mugabe has brought the country’s opposition parties together  with the M.D .C-T,M.D.C , Z.A.P.U and Mavambo Kusile Project coming together to condemn Mugabe’s actions .Much to ZANU P.F ‘S  horror  their actions have culminated in the possibility of an electoral pact between the opposition parties .This would surely seal the party’s electoral pact and dissipate their chances in the Presidential and parliamentary elections .Although most of the parties have concluded their primary elections for parliament and local government an electoral pact continues to be an unfolding reality .All of a sudden the opposition political parties or rather the former opposition parties have been united because of ZANU P.F unilateralism  .They have calculated that they can only deal with the former liberation movement by combining their energy and effort .ZANU P.F ‘S  actions can thus be described as attempted political suicide as the key strategy in politics is to ensure that you keep your opposition divided .

Division in ZANU P.F

It must be borne in mind that ZANU P.F like any political or social entity is not homogenous but is composed of various interest groups ,factions ,differing personalities and so forth .Not surprisingly not everyone in ZANU P.F was and is for an early action for various and different reasons .Surprisingly in spite of their bravado and apparent misplaced Dutch courage ZANU P.F  is the only party of the inclusive government parties which still  has not held primary elections .Their only known candidate is the 89 year old Robert Mugabe  .

However the primary elections within the party which are due on Wednesday the 26^th ,have resulted once more in rampant factionalism and open defiance of  party directives .Allegations of candidate imposition and double standards have marred  the ZANU P.F  Primary elections process which had to be postponed by the party’s national chairman Simon Khaya  Moyo .

All this commotion within the ruling party has been caused by a rushed decision which has intensified factionalism and the battle for succession within the party.

Whilst some argue that ZANU P.F played everybody a dummy by getting everybody to focus on the dates of the elections and the legal conundrum surrounding the issue whilst they would then focus on grassroots mobilization there is no evidence of this as the proclamation and political panic generated by the election date saga has caused more organized confusion in the ZANU P.F camp.

Undoubtedly ZANU P.F is becoming increasingly isolated and is almost entirely dependent on the state security apparatus and control of key state organs for continued political survival.

Dumisani O. Nkomo is an activist and opinion leader