MDC-T warns of civil unrest if present economic crisis continues

Full statement

Tuesday, 07 June 2016

Lack of political legitimacy is root cause of Zimbabwe socio-economic collapse

On times without number, the MDC has stated that the July 31, 2013 elections were stolen.

ZANU-PF massively rigged that plebiscite and since then, Zimbabwe’s economy has been on an endless tailspin. The world over, sound and prospering national economies are anchored upon a legitimate and credible political infrastructure. Put alternatively, there can never be economic development and prosperity against the bedrock of political instability and upheaval.

No matter what the rogue and incorrigibly corrupt ZANU-PF regime might continue to say, the long and short of it is that the national economy is on a downward spiral that can only end up in a total and unprecedented financial and socio-economic meltdown. At the root of Zimbabwe’s economic malaise is the lack of political legitimacy by the ruling ZANU-PF regime. The economic situation from July 2013 up to date is dire. Several companies have since closed down and thousands of workers have been laid off. The economy has been contracting at a frightening pace ever since the end of the inclusive government in July 2013.

Although ZANU-PF promised to create 2.2 million jobs between 2013 and 2018, the statistics are very grim since no less than 2 million vendors and loafers have been off-loaded onto the job market since July 31, 2013. Our import bill is around US$6 billion against an export bill of around US$2.9 billion. This huge balance of payment mismatch is creating havoc in the financial markets. Currently, the country is facing a debilitating shortage of cash and thousands of people are now spending several hours in bank queues as they patiently wait to access their hard-earned money. The prevailing cash shortages are symptomatic of an economy that has totally gone off the rails. Even the proposed introduction of bond notes (which, in any event, are Zimbabwe dollars by another name) will not in any way arrest the mayhem that is currently obtaining in the country’s financial markets.

Zimbabwe has got to go back to the basics. Fundamentally, the lack of political legitimacy of the ZANU-PF regime has to be addressed. Nothing short of this will do. President Robert Mugabe is now a visitor to Zimbabwe since he spends most of his time outside the country. At the rate that the Zimbabwean economy is imploding,  there is a very real risk of civil commotion taking place in the country soon because millions of Zimbabweans have no access to food and even the ANU-PF regime itself is struggling to timeously pay civil servants their salaries. The country is on a knife edge.

The MDC calls upon President Robert Mugabe and his entire Cabinet to immediately step down and to allow for the holding of free, fair and credible elections that will be run and supervised by the United Nations with the active participation of both SADC and the AU. As currently constituted, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is completely incapable of running an election that will pass the test of legitimacy. Besides ZEC being broke, the ZEC secretariat is packed with hard line CIO agents and other security operatives who are determined to rig any election in favour of the ruling but crumbling Zanu PF regime.

MDC: Equal Opportunities for All
Obert Chaurura Gutu
MDC National Spokesperson

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