Even if 50 MDCs align, we will win - Manyika
THE date for the harmonised elections has not yet been announced but election
fever has since gripped the nation. Today we talk to the National Political
Commissar of the ruling party, Zanu-PF, CDE ELLIOT MANYIKA, about his party's
preparedness for the elections, alleged factionalism and bickering, the key
electoral issues, and Zanu-PF's view of the proposed opposition alliance, among
other things.
QUESTION: Cde Manyika, in less than 90 days Zimbabweans go to the polls to
elect a president, legislators and councillors. How prepared is Zanu-PF for
these elections?
ANSWER: Zanu-PF has always been prepared for these elections, you know some
nine to ten months ago, the President indicated that we are going to hold
elections this year, in March 2008. So generally we have always been preparing.
We have been restructuring our party; we have been strengthening our structures
from the cells, branches and districts.
We were doing that in readiness for the elections, our special Congress was
also an indicator of the preparedness of Zanu-PF, the Million Men and Women
March was also another indicator that Zanu-PF is ready to romp to victory in
the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.
Q: You are the man, as national political commissar, who is charged with
ensuring the party's well-being at all levels, can you say Zanu-PF is in the
shape you want it to be in, given the perennial concerns that have been raised
over the state of party structures?
A: Generally, I can say we are satisfied that the party is ready, and we are
satisfied that the party can overcome the opposition and romp to victory
because our structures are intact.
Q: I ask that because reports abound that there is factionalism in the rank and
file of the party, there is talk of three factions one aligned to VP Joice
Mujuru, one to Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa and another to President Mugabe. Is there
or isn't there factionalism in Zanu-PF?
A: What I know is that Zanu-PF is solid. Yes, individuals in the party might
have differences, but those differences can never override the party policies
and principles that bring us together.
We have a common constitution, a common ideology, common beliefs which are
enshrined in our liberation struggle, the quest for total independence,
empowerment of our people, and bringing about holistic development of our
people. So in any organisation as big as Zanu-PF, opinions can differ but that
is all part of internal democracy, differences of opinion do not necessarily
mean people cannot work together.
Q: On November 30, the ZNLWVA organised the Million Men and Women March in
solidarity with President Mugabe's candidature. There were some notable
absences at the march, involving mainly party heavyweights from Matabeleland,
wasn't that an expression of factionalism?
A: Not at all, there was nothing which I would call extraordinary that would
have required every senior party member to attend. Let's not forget that the
Million Men and Women March was a culmination of solidarity marches that had
been held in all provinces, not every senior member attended those, those who
were able to attend, attended - those who could not - for various reasons, did
not.
What is important is that the generality of our membership came to the March,
so some of the senior leaders may have been out of the country, others could
have been doing other party work and so on, they were not bound to attend the
Million Men and Women March, party business had to go on even as the March was
being held.
Q: That brings me to the whole issue of Bulawayo, which has traditionally been
your weakest province since the MDC was formed. Is everything well in Bulawayo?
A: What I can say is that Bulawayo has a new provincial executive which was
elected in November, one would like to believe that the provincial executive
will be able to bring together all the people of Bulawayo under its banner to
ensure that Zanu-PF goes into the elections strong, and in a position to win
those elections.
Q: You announced that you are going to select candidates on consensus, yet at
the same time you say you are against imposition of candidates. Isn't
'consensus' a euphemism for imposing candidates since it is the leadership who
concur, and not the grassroots?
A: Not necessarily, you might find that in one constituency, there is one
candidate who has come up, who has come forward. In Zanu-PF, you must always
remember that its self-nomination, you are not nominated by anybody, you come
forward and say I want to stand as a candidate.
So if in a constituency there is only one candidate who comes forward and says
I want to stand, and everybody says 'it's okay', wouldn't you call that
consensus? You might also have a situation where two candidates come up, but
one says 'Ah I think this Cde is better than me', wouldn't you call that
consensus?
What we don't want is for somebody, or a senior leader to come and tell the
people that 'this is your candidate'. No, that thwarts democracy, what we want
is to preserve the democratic nature of the party, and to see it in practice.
Q: In the run-up to the last general election, we saw supporters virtually
camping at the party HQ protesting that their preferred candidates had been
sidelined, yet the party had said it was going by consensus, isn't it better
and democratic to put every candidate to the test through primary elections?
A: It's best to put all candidates to the test, but if you have a situation
where there is one candidate, is there need for a primary? Or if, as I said
before, two candidates come up, but one withdraws in favour of a competitor and
no one else comes up to challenge that person, is there anything wrong with
that?
No, that is why we are still leaving room for that, but we are saying primarily
let's go for primary elections, and when we go for primary elections, we do it
by secret ballot not zvebereka mwana (a situation where voters line up behind
their preferred candidate).
Q: At the just-ended Congress, President Mugabe appealed for quality candidates
saying it is from the pool of MPs that he will select his Cabinet. What
attributes are you looking for in a candidate?
A: First and foremost we fully agree with what the President said and we will
encourage provinces to bring forward quality candidates like the President of
the party has said, we will try to do that.
We believe candidates should be knowledgeable about issues affecting the
nation, the environment we are operating in and so on, but that does not mean
we will shut out everybody else.
Some party members who have been with the party for a long time, may feel its
high time they also come up, and we also feel that they should come up, but
it's important that they also understand issues, to understand the debates in
parliament or council, to understand the debates in the House of Assembly and
Senate.
It's not only about being elected, they should be able to contribute as well.
So we have some members, who may not be well-educated, but are conversant with
issues, we feel that they should also be considered.
So we definitely take the advice of our First Secretary and President Cde
Mugabe that quality candidates should come up so that he is given a broader
base from which to choose his ministers, deputy ministers and senior party
cadres who may be chief whips, and so on in Parliament.
Q: What should voters expect from Zanu-PF's issues in this election, that is,
what are the main electoral issues?
A: Quite a lot, we are trying to ensure that the economy comes back on track
through the agricultural thrust. You have seen the two phases of the farm
mechanisation programme, which is not yet over, because we believe agriculture
is the base of any developing economy the world over because if you are able to
feed your people, you don't import food, then you are home and dry.
If agriculture ticks, the rest falls into place, so we are saying if we correct
the agricultural side, the economy is the area we need to address so that we
correct whatever mistakes there may be.
Q: Zanu-PF always runs its campaigns on particular themes, what are you
focusing on this year?
A: We are focusing on defending our sovereignty through economic empowerment,
which was our special Congress theme. We now have independence and sovereignty
but our people need to be empowered to own all their resources.
Of course we should understand we have impediments in the form of the illegal
sanctions, that were imposed to oppose the empowerment, these sanctions have
affected the economic performance. Our theme is we need to see our people
empowered so that they are strengthened economically.
Q: Over the past two weeks, Kenyans have been bludgeoning each other to death
over disputed poll results, what lessons, if any can you - as a party - draw
from the Kenyan experience?
A: Firstly we should go into this election as a solid party, united as a single
party.
Zanu-PF has always been a single party. Yes, as I said before there may be
differences of approach, in interpretation of issues, but the solid foundation
of the party should remain.
Secondly, we are a country with various parties, we are a democracy. Other
parties should also embrace democracy, if they genuinely believe in it. Zanu-PF
has allowed other parties to exist, to compete with us, so they should accept
the results of the elections.
Thirdly we want a peaceful environment, conducive to everybody being able to
cast their ballot. So as Zanu-PF we are calling for peaceful elections. We want
everybody to be able to participate in this franchise.
Q: Finally, Cde Manyika, the opposition is reported to be going into an
alliance, the MDC factions and other fringe parties, do you feel threatened?
A: Not at all, Zanu-PF does not feel threatened by the opposition.
They were one MDC before, and we beat them, now there are two MDCs, even if
there are 50 MDCs we will still beat them because we are a peoples' party, we
derive our power from the people.
l [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
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