MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday said President
Emmerson Mnangagwa was doomed and will not be able to resolve the country’s
worsening economic meltdown because his government suffers a serious legitimacy
crisis.
The opposition leader, who still insists that Mnangagwa
rigged the July 30 polls, said until the legitimacy crisis stalking the Zanu PF
administration was resolved, the economic crisis would continue on a downward
spiral.
Chamisa said had he been declared winner, confidence would
have increased with Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora already trooping back
home.
“There would be an economic hara-kiri right now if there
was no political rape on July 30. Rape has consequences and this failing
economy is what we are now suffering from,” he said.
“But as both a leader and citizen, I am deeply concerned by
the level of suffering of Zimbabweans. There is violence in the minds of people
due to the painful challenges they are facing everyday under Mnangagwa’s
controversial leadership. The situation tells a lot about the previous
elections. The elections, instead of being a source of joy, have brought about
a lot of uncertainties.
“The economy is freezing and even fuel is in short supply.
What is more in short supply is market confidence. Business is not settled
because elections were tampered with. You can change statistics of elections,
but you cannot tamper with figures in economics.”
“Mnangagwa did not win the elections, but he was declared
winner. This has to be resolved first,” Chamisa told NewsDay in an exclusive
interview.
“This problem will not go away because we inaugurated a
lie. There is dispute on who should lead the country. Disputed mandates will
always cause a dispute of failed economy.”
Chamisa’s remarks came after the country experienced a wave
of price hikes of basic commodities since the elections, with foreign currency
shortages worsening and some critical commodities such as cement disappearing
from shops. Many companies were also scaling down operations and giving notice
to retrench.
Mnangagwa was last month confirmed winner of the
presidential polls by the Constitutional Court after Chamisa challenged the
poll outcome as announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
However, the opposition leader rubbished the court ruling,
insisting he won the presidential race against the Zanu PF leader.
Chamisa insisted there were no talks between him and
Mnangagwa to form an inclusive government, saying instead the Zanu PF leader
should be grateful to him for cooling down tempers and restraining his
supporters to avoid an implosion following the July 30 disputed polls. Chamisa
said the country was facing a serious deficit of leadership and unless
Zimbabweans’ votes and voices were respected, the situation was going to get
worse.
“How do we move forward when we don’t respect what people
have voted for?” he quipped. “Mnangagwa should actually thank me. I calmed down
the people, but there is a limit to that goodwill. People are becoming
impatient because they know that they voted and they were cheated on. It’s a
political tinderbox. Why do you [Mnangagwa] want to lead people by fear and
force?”
But Zanu PF dismissed Chamisa’s claims, saying there was no
legitimacy crisis in the country because Mnangagwa was declared winner by the
court.
“I don’t waste my time dwelling on what has already passed.
President Mnangagwa was declared winner by the court and we are now focussing
on the 2023 elections and we will trounce them again,” Zanu PF secretary for
legal affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said, adding his party would address the
economic challenges.
Soldiers on August 1 killed seven people when they opened
fire in the crowded streets in a bid to quell post-election protests. Mnangagwa
last week appointed a seven-member commission to probe the shootings, although
analysts have dismissed its composition and terms of reference as a mere
international public relations stunt.
Chamisa dismissed claims that he had been engaged by the
European Union and the British government to goad him into a coalition
government with Mnangagwa. “For the record, no one has approached me with an
indication of progressive engagement on nation building. Not that I want, but
to move the country forward there should be genuine engagement, not about
power, but people,” Chamisa said.
“I engaged the various embassies on behalf of the MDC
Alliance and to discuss what we think are the issues going forward. As you
know, we have been given a window period to consult our people and we are alive
to the fact that the people are determined to resolve their own issues.”
Chamisa said there was need for fundamental reforms in
politics, judiciary, and economy and electoral fields to deal with the scourge
of repeated electoral disputes which have the potential of plunging the country
into permanent instability.
Key institutions, Chamisa said, should be reformed to
arrest the polarisation that is affecting the country. He also underscored the
need for proper and inclusive international re-engagement to unlock funding
from multilateral institutions.
Meanwhile, Chamisa’s deputy Elias Mudzuri yesterday called
for tolerance between his party and Zanu PF to allow each other space to
perform, failure of which the country would be doomed.
Mudzuri also said Mnangagwa has to deal decisively with
issues of human rights violations that have dogged the country in the past,
causing investor flight and instability that has worsened the Zimbabwean
situation.
He said Zanu PF will be controlling the central government
while on the other hand the opposition controls most of the local authorities,
hence the need to create an atmosphere that allows people to carry out their
constitutional mandates.
“There is not much on working together or not because what
has happened is that we are in control of the local authorities and the central
government is under Zanu PF,” Mudzuri said.
“We need to tolerate each other. We don’t need a repeat of
what happened in the past where our leadership in local authorities was always
under attack. There must be some form of co-operation and not for the ministers
to be out to frustrate the local authorities just to get loopholes to suspend.
“The bottom line is to make sure that the ordinary person
on the street benefits, a common man is not a politician and doesn’t deserve
all that.” Newsday
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