Is this the right time to talk about an election boycott?

Newly appointed Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa has threatened to boycott the coming elections if the government does not implement the electoral reforms demanded by the opposition.

“MDC will not go into elections before electoral reforms. We are getting briefs from intelligence officers who are telling us of plans to rig the elections. The election is a mere formality because there’s no way ED (Mnangagwa) can win an election,” Chamisa told a rally in Chinhoyi according to Newsday.

The statement and the way Chamisa railroaded himself to the helm of the MDC-T could be signs of someone who does not fully trust his own capacity.

Critics have asked why Chamisa did not agree to an extra-ordinary congress to elect a new leader which they say he could easily win.

The appointment by the national executive and the national council is open to challenge and clashes at the weekend show that all is not well within the MDC-T.

Chamisa, it appears is setting the party for failure which would tally with allegations, which he has denied, that he is linked to the Mnangagwa administration.

His supporters will of course not stomach this but it is a well-known fact that ZANU-PF infiltrates any organization in the country within its top five and former leader Morgan Tsvangirai acknowledged this.

Election boycotts by the opposition during Tsvangirai’s administration only gave ZANU-PF more seats even in areas where people had vowed they would a rather vote for a donkey than for ZANU-PF?

If Mnangagwa cannot win an election because he failed twice to beat Blessing Chebundo in Kwekwe why talk about a boycott, except only if the aim is to alienate voters?

Mnangagwa has promised free, fair and credible elections which will be held in July or August.

While Mnangagwa worked with former President Robert Mugabe for more than 50 years, he is desperate trying to prove that he is different from Mugabe.

Besides, he is currently enjoying so much goodwill from the international community as well as the local business community to spoil things for himself by holding elections that can be challenged.

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