Tsvangirai grudgingly concedes defeat September 16, 2013 Headlines, Top Stories Mr Tsvangirai Takunda Maodza Senior Reporter MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai failed to explain to his supporters in Mutare how the harmonised elections were “stolen’’ and ended up grudgingly admitting that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF prevailed and have the mandate to form Government over the next five years. This follows an admission by the party’s Matabeleland North provincial leadership which attributed the party’s loss to a poor manifesto, imposition of candidates and shambolic structures. Addressing his party’s 14th anniversary celebrations at Sakubva Stadium in Mutare on Saturday that had been touted as the platform to reveal “What Happened’’ on July 31, Mr Tsvangirai regurgitated the mantra that failed to find purchase in the courts. “Although (President) Mugabe was inaugurated as President of the country and a Government is now there, we will continue to remind them that they did not win the elections. But if they are insisting that they won, we are saying go ahead and govern. Give the people what you promised during the campaigns.” MDC-T was conceived by three British political parties — Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats — who came together under the Westminster Foundation for Democracy to launch the party on a ZCTU platform in a bid to depose Zanu-PF and halt the land reform programme. Since then, the Western-sponsored party has successively lost elections, plunging to its worst defeat on July 31 where Mr Tsvangirai was trounced by President Mugabe who garnered 61,09 percent of the vote to Mr Tsvangirai’s 33,94. Zanu-PF also dominated the 210 National Assembly constituencies, clinching 160 seats to MDC-T’s 49 with the remaining seat going to an independent candidate. Despite growing calls, including from the party’s Rhodesian element for his resignation as party leader, Mr Tsvangirai insisted he will remain at the helm until they had the opportunity to win elections in the future. “What is the way forward? Where do we go from here? As a party and leadership we have been talking to the people. “The way forward is for us to maintain our mass line and continue to actively engage the people of Zimbabwe, to have perennial dialogue with the people. From today onwards, we will come to your villages, we will come to your districts and provinces talking about how we can go forward,” he said. Mr Tsvangirai blamed alleged rigging for MDC-T’s loss, but could not explain how the “rigging’’ occurred. The MDC-T leader also accused Angola and China of having assisted Zanu-PF to manipulate the elections, all along he had been claiming it was Israel. He accused Angola of facilitating the sale of the country’s Marange diamonds for use by Zanu-PF in “rigging the elections”. Mr Tsvangirai also accused China of training youths in military activities, whom he said were aimed at intimidating the masses, but failed to convince his supporters who were expecting to hear the party’s strategy into the future. He made a number of other allegations claiming the voting slips were printed by the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment then led by Cde Saviour Kasukuwere. Mr Tsvangirai further claimed the elections were run by the army but still admitted defeat as he could not figure out some specifics to buttress his argument. “They can have the majority in Parliament. They can have their Cabinet, asi tinoti tongai tione,” he charged. Mr Tsvangirai pleaded with his supporters not to despair in defeat. “My warning to you all is not to be despondent. There are some among us who say where do we go from here? There are some among us who doubt on the way forward. Our collective challenge is not to give up. We all feel the world is crushing on us. This is one of the moments. For the sake of our country which we love and have sacrificed so much, we as a people and as a movement cannot be held captive by despondence and despair. This is a passing phase, a passing moment. We have a job not to wail but to ensure that our struggle continues with full force,” he said. The 14th anniversary celebrations were an embarrassment to the MDC-T leadership. Running under a revised theme, “Claiming Our Victory”, from Claiming and Celebrating Victory”, the celebrations were officially scheduled to start at 9am. They, however, started five hours later as the stadium was empty. The MDC-T only managed four seats out of 24 in Manicaland and this has not only shocked party supporters by even Mr Tsvangirai himself. Throughout his address, he kept repeating “where did (President) Mugabe get the two million votes”. As the MDC-T leader was addressing his supporters from the party’s provinces, thousands of Mutare residents continued with their chores as if nothing was happening. Herald
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:01:54 +0000
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