Forget about elections focus on the economy-opposition leader says

An opposition politician has finally said what people have been waiting to hear. There is too much talk about elections. People need to breathe.  Politicians should focus on fixing the economy.

Jacob Mafume of the Movement for Democratic Change Renewal Team said the opposition should take on the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front on the economy rather than elections because if elections were held today ZANU-PF would win.

“We should focus on the economy and play our role as the opposition by keeping the ruling ZANU-PF on its toes. We are the opposition and we will tell them where they go wrong. There is an election overdose in the country and this tends to affect efforts to revive the economy. The focus should now be on fixing the economy. People need to breathe,” he was quoted by New Zimbabwe.Com as saying.

 “ZANU-PF did whatever they did but the fact remains they won the elections. Let them govern for the benefit of everyone and work towards reviving the economy. Even if we hold elections, ZANU-PF will win again. This is evident in the by-elections that have been held in the country so far. In any case, who will fund the elections? Certainly not the overburdened taxpayer,” he said.

MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai said today that Zimbabweans had suffered enough.

“Our position is that only a return to legitimacy through a free and fair election will solve the country’s problems and that is why our call for dialogue has now shifted to only that dialogue that focuses on electoral conditions so that Zimbabweans are enabled to give legitimacy to government through a truly free, fair and credible election.”

Mafume said Zimbabwe needed a new leadership.

“We want to live the dream of our generation with leaders of our own generation. We cannot have a leadership that does not want to retire from office. People cannot be led by a leadership as represented by Tsvangirai whose best memories are the best price of beer in another country called Rhodesia, people whose memories are the colour of the women they used to date then.

“We want a new generation of leadership whose focus is on the economy. President Mugabe’s generation played its part in bringing political independence and we now need to move on. ZANU-PF is full of old people. It’s like an old people’s home,” Mafume said.

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