via Tsvangirai ballot spoiling call gets mixed reactions – NewsDay Zimbabwe May 19, 2015 by Nunurai Jena
OPPOSITION MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s call for his supporters to spoil the June 10 parliamentary by-elections ballot papers in protest against non-implementation of electoral reforms has been received with mixed reactions from some of his traditional backers.
Tsvangirai on Sunday told party supporters during a “No Reforms, No Elections” campaign rally in Tsholotsho that they should spoil their ballot papers if they were forced to participate in the polls.
The MDC-T, MDC led by Welshman Ncube and MDC Renewal Team led by Sekai Holland have boycotted the by-elections citing non-implementation of key reforms such as provision of an electronic voters’ roll, equal access to public media and depoliticisation of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission secretariat.
Zanu PF is likely to make a clean sweep of all the 16 seats as it contests against some smaller opposition parties and independent candidates with stakes tilted in its favour.
The seats fell vacant after the MDC-T recalled 21 legislators from Parliament accusing them of crossing the floor to the MDC Renewal Team.
ZimRights director Okay Machisa said his organisation supported Tsvangirai’s stance “because without electoral reforms, our elections will remain a fallacy”.
“Yes, we know that it is a democratic right for individuals to exercise their voting rights, but under the current situation, it is a waste of time and resources,” Machisa said.
Election Resource Centre director Tawanda Chimhini said there was nothing amiss about the call for the electorate not to vote.
“Elections by their very nature are an opportunity for the canvassing of votes by either political parties or individuals who are standing for that election. In mature electoral democracies, this opportunity is also made use of by interest groups to also canvass for support on policy issues such as the environment, debt or any other public interest issue,” Chimhini said.
“Such canvassing is for either of the following: for the electorate to vote for an individual or party, for the electorate to vote for a cause and in some other instances for the electorate not to vote at all.”
But Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president George Nkiwane said people had a democratic right to vote for a candidate of their choice without being forced.
“We as ZCTU we believe that people have a democratic right to vote for a candidate or party of their choice freely,” Nkiwane said.
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said Tsvangirai had exposed himself as a “lost leader” who could not read the implications of his actions.
“It shows how limited he is in terms of capacity . . . whether some people did not vote, that will not change the winning candidate,” he said.
COMMENTS
Yeah,according to Khaya Moyo’s chicken brains of course. Just singing for his supper idiot
Yeah according to khaya moyo and his party’s mixture of mafia and chicken brains, Tsvangirayi is a lost leader. MDC is very much aware that zanu, through its thieving and violent mechanisations, is going to take most, if not all bi-elections. MDC was very much aware of this when they adopted the decision that they will not participate in any future elections without reforms.
But credible country will recognise a zanu pf win anyway, even if parliament becomes 100% zanu. So really, its chicken brains when khaya moyo says “whether some people did not vote, that will not change the winning candidate,” My question to them is, what will they do with a win the majority of the world wont recognise? It will not bring any value to the economy of the country .What has the stollen vote of 2013 brought to the country apart from mysery and worsening economical climate. To this day, no credible country believes in zanu’s purpoted 2013 win.
In 2008, zanu went ahead with an election which MDC had pulled out of due to extreme violence.zanu, displaying their chicken brains, told the world they won that election by about 80%, to the bewilderment of even SADC countries, who felt themselves exposed if they endorsed it.
What zanu mafia brains had hoped for was that the MDC would participate in these bi-elections, and with the rigging and violence mechanisations very much now well established in the electoral system, a zanu win is definite. Knowing very well their 2013 win lacks credibility and legitimacy, their main focus is to try and gain these long lost attributes. The idea then was, if the MDC had participated,the said mechanisations would make them(MDC) loose all or make them win just a handful of the seats. With that, the mafia party would then say to the world, ” See, we enjoy support from the majority of Zimbabweans, and that even our 2013 win is genuine and not stollen bla bla bla”
The other side of their mafia thinking would be to let the MDC win most if not all the bi-election seats. With this again, go out and tell the world; ” you see, we are a democractic country, the MDC has won in a free and fair election bla bla bla” just to woodwink the world, but with nothing changing on the ground as they have over two-thirds in parliament from the stollen 2013 vote.
Anyway, let khaya moyo go ahead and sing for his supper. Had the MDC made this decision years back, the country would have been in a much better econonomical position today, which would have saved a lot of us tracking down south were we are experiencing xenophobic attacks.
THIS IS THE ANSWER TO FORCED VOTING IN TJOLOTJO (KALANGA)!