"Accept final election reports"

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As Zanu-PF started celebrating its almost-certain two-thirds majority in Parliament yesterday, the badly bruised MDC was crying foul and trying to arrange meetings with the European Union, of all people.

This is wrong. In every election there are winners and losers, and in a democracy the losers of today can easily become the winners of tomorrow if they figure out correctly the reasons for their loss and plan a more winning strategy.

The 2005 election has been closely observed by Zimbabwe's neighbours, both by the formal Sadc team and by many of our neighbours. Their final reports should be accepted by all - winners and losers - as the last word on whether the people of Zimbabwe were able to exercise their democratic rights.

Neighbours are usually the best judges. First they know the situation intimately, since it is so similar to their own; so they are unlikely to be fooled. Secondly, they rarely have any personal preferences or axe to grind; what they want is simply a stable, peaceful and democratic neighbour.

Sadc has thought long and hard on how to ensure that all elections in Southern Africa are free and fair and has come up with a list of practical ideas, which Zimbabwe implemented for this election, and put in place an observer mechanism. Everyone in Zimbabwe - Government and opposition - has publicly accepted the whole system. No one can now reject it simply because they came second.

The reflex reaction of the MDC, to go to Europe and America for succour, is indicative of why the MDC lost votes in this election. If they had spent the last five years working in the constituencies and finding and supporting candidates who could make inroads into the Zanu-PF rural heartland, we are willing to bet the result would have been much, much closer.

Instead the party has largely ignored the rural communities, preferring to grandstand on the world stage. Even the urban voters, outside Bulawayo, seem a bit fed up with the party they have supported so strongly and withdrew some support, or simply did not bother to vote.

Nor was the MDC building its support when it announced a boycott and then, at the last minute, decided to run. It simply was not ready to fight the real battle, which was to win constituencies that normally support the Government.

We hope that both major parties will accept totally the findings of the Sadc mission, and that they will tell their friends outside that they should as well.

And then the two parties should think hard about how they handle the effects of the two-party system that has now become entrenched in Zimbabwe. The Fifth Parliament, in far too many cases, showed how this should not be done.

Both MDC MPs and Government ministers need, for a start, to distinguish between party politics, constituency issues and the need to reform Zimbabwe's constitution.

On national programmes, policies and budgets the MDC should go beyond mere opposition. They should come up with own ideas and defend these in debate.

On constituency issues, the bread and butter stuff like hospitals, schools, tractors and roads, ministers should treat all MPs equally, regardless of their party, and MDC MPs should not be backward in trying to get a better deal for their constituents. All MPs have Zanu-PF and MDC supporters who need their help, and they should give this freely to all.

Everyone, from the President down, agrees that the constitution needs some fundamental reforms. Because the party split in Parliament reflects an urban-rural divide, and to a certain extent a west-east divide, it would be better if both major parties could hammer out the reforms together, so that the interests of all Zimbabweans are taken on board. But for that to work all must put the interests of the Zimbabweans they represent first. Party politics should be limited to what goes on inside the agreed framework, rather than distort that constitutional framework.

The lesson the MDC should learn from its defeat is that electoral battles are fought in Zimbabwe, not Europe, and should reset its policies and actions to reflect that truth. This will benefit both the nation, and the party.

Reprinted from:
www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=42141&pubdate=2005-04-02