The sentiments were also echoed by political commentators,
who urged the opposition to work had to avoid another Zanu PF majority win in
Parliament.
Project Vote 263 founder Youngerson Matete told NewsDay
yesterday that the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party
should focus on the presidency and parliamentary positions to preserve
Zimbabwe’s democratic space.
The country is heading for general elections late this
year, with both Zanu PF and CCC targeting an outright victory.
Matete said another five years with a Zanu PF majority in
Parliament would be tragic and disastrous for Zimbabwe’s democracy and
development.
“Post the 2023 harmonised elections, Zimbabwe cannot afford
a Zanu PF parliamentary majority. If anything, we should learn from the past
mistakes, especially in 2018 when the opposition allowed the ruling party to
win the parliamentary majority because it didn’t put more focus on the
Parliament, which was a tragic mistake,” Matete said.
“Zanu PF has since used its parliamentary majority to enact
draconian laws such as the Patriotic Bill, the Cyber Security and Data
Protection Act, the Maintenance of Public Order Act and the Private Voluntary
Organisations (PVOs) Bill as well as amending the Constitution to consolidate
power and shrink the democratic space.
“There is no doubt that if Zanu PF wins the parliamentary
majority, it will further reverse the gains of the 2013 Constitution by further
shredding the Constitution as it consolidates power, hence the tragic mistake
of 2018 must be corrected this time around.”
Matete said a parliamentary majority for the CCC would pave
the way for implementation of necessary reforms.
“For a long time, the opposition and civil society have
been calling for electoral, political and even economic reforms. It has been
proven beyond reasonable doubt that Zanu PF will not reform itself out of
power,” he added.
“This is why the opposition CCC should aim to win the
Parliament and lead the reform agenda and building of independent and strong
institutions. Focusing on the presidency and neglecting the Parliament will not
only be un-strategic, but a political suicide.”
In an interview yesterday, Witwatersrand University-based
political analyst Romeo Chasara said a two-thirds majority for any political
party was unhealthy for democracy.
“A functional democracy does not need a party to have
two-thirds majority because it can push for its draconian laws like what we
witnessed in the past five years,” he said.
“Zanu PF has been pushing for the enactment of the PVOs
Bill and Patriotic Bill and with the majority it enjoys, these Bills can easily
pass. The party also uses the whipping system, where every legislator is
supposed to toe the party line. No country needs a party to have a two-thirds
majority in this era where several nations are governed by coalitions.”
Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said political parties
with a majority in Parliament are likely to tamper with the Constitution to
suit their needs.
“However, when the parliamentary seats are balanced, it
means they might need to look for coalition partners,” he said.
“With Zanu PF, there is nothing like that. It’s an outright
majority which is a problem. All the decisions are based on Zanu PF caucus and
that is very dangerous because generally, constitutional reform that is
propagated by an authoritarian type of parliamentarian majority is based on
entrenching the power and authority of government.”
Ngwenya said a parliamentary majority for any party was
unhealthy.
“Countries don’t want to deal with authoritarian
governments. Note that it also applies to CCC as they are also subject to
diabolic influence when it comes to power retention,” he said.
Neither of the parties could be reached for comment last
night.
Zanu PF has always enjoyed majority representation in
Parliament, except for in 2000 when opposition MDC first participated in the
national elections, and in 2008 at the height of a tanking economy, job losses
and disgruntlement over the crisis in the country , when the then opposition
MDC-T grabbed some of the seats from the ruling party. Newsday
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