Having been formed in 1999, comprising of a handful of civic groups, the MDC has participated in six elections with the result being more or less the same each time.
The MDC has not been successful in Zimbabwe’s elections because of a number of reasons but mainly their inability to come up with electoral promises that resonate with the electorate, the party concentrates too much on de-campaigning ZANU PF and this has been a major turn-off.
After suffering losses, the MDC has been synonymous with complains and accusations of vote rigging, voter intimidation through violence, and abductions. The MDC has been singing that same song since 1999 and has even gone to the extent of fabricating allegations of violence and abductions mainly on social media.
The MDC calling ZANU PF a violent party is like a pot telling a kettle that you are black. Who does not remember the violence that broke out in 2005 at that party’s headquarters where youths ran amok and beat up senior party members?
That should not be surprising though, factoring in that in 2006, the late Ambassador, Trudy Stevenson was assaulted by her own party supporters after falling out with the then MDC leader, the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
Even recently, at the late Tsvangirai’s funeral, the then MDC Vice President, Thokozani Khupe and Secretary General, Douglas Mwonzora were hackled and had to take refuge in a hut with youths even chanting death threats.
The most recent National Shutdown by the MDC and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) was a record low even for the MDC, with its supporters looting shops and attacking the country’s police officers and burning properties, endangering innocent people.
This follows another violent demonstration after the 2018 harmonised election in which the MDC lost to ZANU PF.
Since the days of the late Tsvangirai, the MDC has been relentless in its claims that ZANU PF uses intimidation tactics to stay in power with quite a number of MDC supporters claiming to have been abducted and tortured with the most notable being the alleged disappearance of Itai Dzamara.
With the coming in of Nelson Chamisa as Tsvangirai’s successor, nothing much has changed, Itai Dzamara’s brother and Chamisa’s biggest cheerleader, Patson Dzamara has constantly lied about abductions and he even torched his own car and blamed ZANU PF as he was targeting funders of regime change in the country to give him a pay-out.
There are many other claims of abductions by the opposition which turned out to be false, with the intention to advance the opposition narrative that ZANU PF exercises gross human rights violations with the goal being to force the international community to disassociate itself with Zimbabwe.
Chamisa’s snub of the National Dialogue called by President Mnangagwa only further proves that the MDC are just a bunch of opportunists who do not have the people at heart.
Zimbabwe needs a vibrant opposition party which will keep the ruling party in check, the MDC has surely failed in its role and looks set to playing second fiddle to ZANU PF in the foreseeable future.
