By Nomusa Garikai | MDC’s refusal to address the party’s serious shortcoming has only frustrated many of those who would have wanted to work with the party, forced many to desert MDC in droves!

“International solidarity is key to any struggle and ours is no different. The MDC has identified international relations as one of its cardinal zones of the struggle for a democratic and developmental Zimbabwe. In line with our Roadmap to Economic Recovery, Legitimacy, Openness and Democracy (Reload) that we launched following our fifth national congress, the party seeks to build international pressure for comprehensive political and economic reforms in Zimbabwe through a credible, legitimate and bankable political dialogue platform that is guaranteed by the international community,” MDC’s secretary for international relations, Gladys Hlatshwayo, told Newsday.

MDC had the golden opportunity to implement democratic reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. The party failed to get even one reform implemented in five years because the leaders had their snouts in the gravy train feeding trough. The party has not only refused to acknowledge it sold-out but even had the chutzpah to blame others including SADC leaders for the GNU’s failures!

The international community knows that the the power sharing arrangement with Zanu PF, the National Transition Authority (NTA), MDC is demanding is nothing but a watered down version of the 2008 to 2013 GNU. In the NTA Zanu PF will have its 2/3 majority in parliament, for example. It is naive, to say the least, to expect that parliament to pass any “comprehensive political reforms”. It is therefore naive to expect anyone in SADC let alone in the international community to support such a hare-brain scheme as NTA!

The solution to Zimbabwe’s political paralysis and economic meltdown is for the country to implement the democratic reforms designed to end this curse of rigged elections and pariah state. This was the solution spelt out by SADC leaders at the on set of the 2008 GNU and it is still the solution today. MDC and Zanu PF leaders failed to implement even one reforms during the GNU and hence the reason the nation is still stuck.

What Zimbabwe needs is to appoint a body that will implement the bloody reforms! To entrust the same Zanu PF and MDC leaders, in this NTA, to implement the reforms is damn since they failed to get even one reform implemented last time.

The only reason why MDC leaders are keen as mustard on the formation of the NTA is obvious – they are desperate to get back on the gravy train. Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti, David Coltart and possible a few others are hoping to be appointed ministers in the NTA.

MDC has talked about “comprehensive political reforms” but have failed to give any details of even one such reform! This has become just another empty party slogan no different from the usual “Chinja! Change! Guqula!” Chamisa et all do not have a clue what reforms the country wants because they were never interested in implementing any reforms in the past and that has not changed to this day.

MDC leaders have been running with the hare and hunting with the hounds ever since the 2008 GNU. Many in the international community realised this and deserted MDC in droves. Zimbabweans have been very slow to see it and the nation is paying dearly for this because MDC has given the illegitimate Zanu PF regimes legitimacy by participating in flawed elections. And in turn Zimbabweans have themselves give the discredited MDC legitimacy by attending the party’s rallies.

Zanu PF and MDC are ones who have dragged the nation into this political and economic mess because the two parties’ leaders have proven to be breathtakingly corrupt, incompetent and, especially in Zanu PF’s case, murderous tyrants. Zanu PF and MDC leaders are the ones resisting meaningful political change for selfish reasons and even holding the nation to ransom. They are now the nation’s number one problem and therefore can never be the solution too! – “MDC seeking international pressure to implement reform” sold-out in 2008 and will do so now. – SOURCE: zsdemocrats.blogspot.com