The MDC has refused to concede defeat, even where allies like Lovemore Madhuku have advised that normally you do not contest such margins of defeat. This is a clear indication that there is little, if any, chance that their challenge will make any difference to the material outcome of the election.
If you were to believe what the MDC are saying in public, they were cheated and they want a rerun. It puzzles me as to why they would want a rerun while momentum is clearly with Zanu-PF. Chances are that in any election to be held with then next one to two years, Zanu-PF would win by an even bigger margin. Candidates who survived by the skin of their teeth like the Honourable Tendai Biti, MP would definitely loose.
I think the MDC know very well that they were beaten fair and square. The hue and cry they are raising is primarily to provide cover for their foreign backers to maintain sanctions.The second motive might be to try and give themselves more leverage, in a future government, than they deserve based on their weak electoral showing. I would not be surprised if they are aiming for a couple of places in cabinet, or at the very least, for a face saving post for citizen Tsvangirai.
On the sanctions issue, anybody who has read ZIDERA will know very well that the real reason for them is to try and punish those who threaten the wealth that certain groups of individuals acquired through violent and racist colonial subjugation. They have got absolutely nothing to do with democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe.
Indeed if the issue was democracy, certain generals who deposed an elected president would have been quickly sanctioned as well. Instead they are being showered with billions of dollars worth of weaponry as well as being lavished with money. Despite, their actions threatening the stability of an entire region. Contrast that with a leader who has diligently held elections on time every time being called a dictator.
The MDC's current predicament shows the danger of being funded by foreign interests. You end up being made to look like a fool trying to pursue entirely divergent and contradictory interests. Like a man trying to chase two hares running in opposite directions.
The foreign interests backing the MDC are primarily driven by the desire to own and control natural resources which occur within the natural geographical sphere of influence of the Zimbabwe people.
At the same time the people of Zimbabwe want to fully exercise their natural right to benefit from those resources. To maximize this benefit they need to have ownership of the resources.
The MDC ends up like a man trying to explain the benefits of eating meat to a goat, on behalf of a hyena. 'You see if the hyena eats meat, it will be very fat and strong and protect you from other hyenas.' The catch will be that the hyena has to eat you first.
If a man has got to take ownership of what is yours, use it to make money, then employ you, why not just start by you employing him?
More than a week after the elections, the MDC have failed to come up with the evidence to challenge the result in court. Yet they still refuse to magnanimously concede defeat and allow the country to move on. They are also providing cover for people who want to harm Zimbabwe using sanctions, to continue doing.
Western governments have said they are not going to lift sanctions because the MDC and ZESN claim the elections were not fair. Yet these are groups that a paid and sponsored by the very same governments. Obviously the groups are not using any sort of objectivity, but are trying to produce the best possible outcome for their paymasters.
I do not think Zimbabwe should be held to ransom by such groups. I hope they realise that the possible backlash from Zimbabweans will mean even less support for them. We do not exactly adore having hardships invited upon us.
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