Monday, 29 May 2017
The resurgence of the democratic movement in Zimbabwe
By Morgan Richard Tsvangirai
It might have taken long in coming but the past few months have seen the much-awaited resurgence of the democratic movement in Zimbabwe.
For a long time, this is what the people of Zimbabwe have been clamouring for; in the hope that such a convergence would provide the much-needed fillip for change in a country now tottering on the brink of becoming a failed State.
The pace might not be breath-taking, but slowly, the convergence of the country’s democratic forces is becoming a reality. It is pertinent to state from the outset that as a party, we have played our part in this congregation of the democratic forces.
Indeed, contrary to the misinformed refrain by our detractors, we have shown that it has never bandied ourselves the big boys of the democratic movement. In the past few months, we have shown that we truly believe that everyone has a part to play in the democratization of our country, notwithstanding the stubborn fact that that of all the democratic forces, we have the biggest representation both in Parliament and in local government where we control major cities, towns and rural district councils.
However, we have not allowed these unstinting facts to stand in the way of the urgent need for all the democratic forces in the country to coalesce and mount a formidable challenge in the next election.
We were the first through the resolutions of our 4th national Congress in October 2014 to come up with two important resolutions. The first was urging all people to come under one big tent; the second was to publicly call for the coalition of like-minded groups in order to liquidate the palpable mis-governance and cluelessness that has overwhelmed the seat of government.
Since then, we have been up and running up until our national council gave legs to the Congress resolutions by adopting principles and a framework to guide the process of alliance building.
After all, working with others runs in our blood. The formation of the MDC was in itself a product of the alliance of the labour movement, the constitutional movement and the student movement. Hence, our commitment in 2014 to working with others was simply a restatement of our totem!
Continued next page
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