By A Correspondent| The LEAD, a political party led by Linda Masarira has distanced itself from the forthcoming August 16 Free Zimbabwe demo organised by opposition MDC.

LEAD Secretary General, Sydney Muyambi said the upcoming demonstration was not only poorly organised but it lacked clarity of purpose.

He said:

“On September 17, 2011, Occupy Wall Street took over Zuccotti Park, in the heart of the financial district in Lower Manhattan. Declaring, “We are the 99%,” they captured the attention of the nation. Within a few months, however, the park was cleared and the protesters went home, achieving little, if anything.

In 1998, a similar movement, Otpor, began in Serbia. Yet where Occupy failed, Otpor succeeded marvelously.

In just two years they overthrew the reviled Milošević government. Soon after came the Color Revolutions in Eastern Europe and the Arab Spring in the Middle East.

On August 1 2018 MDC led a defend your vote mass demonstration in Harare which it achieved anything got unfortunate loss of life and invited the army to become a factor in any future demonstrations in Zimbabwe.

On February 14 2019 a public national stay away in Zimbabwe ended up being a looting contest throughout the country.

While Occupy certainly did not lack passion or appeal—indeed its core message about inequality continues to resonate—it was unable to translate that enthusiasm into effective action. Otpor, on the other hand, created a movement of enormous impact.

The contrast is sharp and it is no accident. Successful movements do things that failed ones don’t.

1. This clarity of purpose led directly to action: as has become a norm in all Zimbabwean demonstration the organisers of the demonstrations lack clarity of purpose. If we are to look at the planned demo one wonders if a) the objective is still to defend the 2018 purported stolen vote. b) Whether the objective is to unseat the Mnangagwa regime. c) Whether the objective is to protest against the rising cost of living. d) Whether this is an MDC or national protest.
   For the public to come in their numbers in support of this demo they have to understand its objective and have a clear persuasion that this is the only way to their agreed end. As it is the bulk of the population is sceptical as to the objective of this demo. A good number believe MDC has called this demo to stage an international show so that its international handlers can release funds as the movement is currently broke. Mugabe affectionately called this the Madhuku strategy.
2. A Genome of Shared Values. Any successful demonstration should first seek the by in of the would be beneficiaries of and expected participators in the demonstration. As it stands this appears to be only a Harare demonstration and the rest of the country is left out. If this demonstration is about a failed governance then the whole nation should be rallying behind it. Apparently only select group is clear as to the purpose and value of the demonstration. The rest of the country has been excluded not only in the planning but also in the articulation of the need and urgency of this demo. Zimbabwe has over 100 political parties all of which want to remove the Zanu pf government. What is surprising is that the organisers never made any effort to reach out to leaders of these political parties so as to get their buy in. If this demonstration is about a national crisis the organisers should have tried to reach out to fellow opposition parties and if possible involve them in the planning. The organisers should also have reached out to civic leaders including churches to get them to officially participate in the demo.
3. In fact, planning is something that the organisers should have put an incredible amount of emphasis on in terms of preparations and publications. They should have broken down the campaign into small and concrete tasks” and “backward planning forces you to break down a campaign into small, realistic tasks.” Further working towards achievable tasks motivates people to complete them instead of just coming to be part of an aimless madding crowd with the capacity to degenerate into an upheaval.
4. Connecting To The Mainstream: For any change to become truly revolutionary, it eventually has to be adopted by the mainstream. There is need to make the purpose clear, establish values and create a plan for success. Most of all, there is need to understand that the change being sought will not happen inside the movement, but outside of it. The main goal is to show the general public that the regime could be changed and if changed what are the steps to be taken to get the country on track. Take a look at the Sudan revolution. The organisers failed to anticipate the role of the army and now what seemed to have been a successful revolution has been stolen from them by the military. The planners of the Arab spring revolution failed to anticipate the role of the international community and other local interested groups. Libya is a failed state today because of failure to connect with the mainstream.

As a party LEAD believes that the realization and protection of the freedom of the masses in Zimbabwe is an objective even larger than the attainment of Electoral Justice.

It connotes a country in which societies are at peace both within themselves and with their neighbours: a country that conforms to the self-determination of peoples and in which individuals accept elements of control over the peaceful exercise of power.

It speaks to the rule of law, and to conformity with universal human rights norms embodied in the UN human rights instruments to which countries have committed themselves.

In any State the authority of the government can only derive from the will of the people as expressed in genuine, free and fair elections held at regular intervals on the basis of universal, equal and secret suffrage.

We uphold the following core values in our conduct of politics as we seek the people’s mandate to rule this country:

INTEGRITY: Integrity is a vital element that contributes to the legitimacy of, and must be a key element in, every aspect of the process of seeking the mandate to govern.

Honesty and accountability on the part of all involved in any aspect of the political process is an essential quality and an imperative requirement to uphold by political parties.

PARTICIPATION: The voice of the people must be heard, respected, and represented in the context of a free, fair and genuine political contestation. Citizens are the core of representative democracy as it is they who choose by secret ballot those who represent and govern them.

Elections provide a way for all to decide on the decision makers in a way that ensures that all voters have a fair and equal opportunity to participate in the election process. Full participation and diversity are manifested when arrangements facilitate the involvement of all, including first-time voters, women and disadvantaged groups.

Once the electoral process is over political parties should respect the will of the people as expressed by the results of the election and wait for another chance to present their governance bid in the next election cycle.

LAWFULNESS (RULE OF LAW): The lawfulness of any political player and the likely consequences of violations must be firmly established and widely understood in order to secure the legitimacy of the outcome of elections.

A political party uphold the rule of law when it conducts itself in accordance with the rules clearly established within the valid legal framework of the country.

IMPARTIALITY AND FAIRNESS: The principle of impartiality and fairness guarantees the equal treatment of citizens and political contestants. It also guarantees the equal application of the rules of the game.

Impartiality and fairness on the part of political party management bodies and all administrative and security authorities must be extended to citizens, candidates, political parties, the media, civil society and other stakeholders, and in so doing contribute to the concept of providing a ‘level playing field’ for all contestants. Whether before or after the poll, dispute resolutions must be fair, accessible, efficient, timely and in line with constitutional provisions.

PROFESSIONALISM: Managing the political parties requires technical knowledge of constitutional issues. Beyond the professionalism, it is also important that the Election Dispute Resolution Body (EDRB) should be professionally competent.

Professionalism in the management and oversight of all stages of the electoral process must be demonstrated in the planning, operation and the conclusion of elections by political parties including the pre-electoral, electoral and post-electoral periods.

Key indicators of professionalism include experience, expertise, objectivity, efficiency, accuracy, commitment, effectiveness, tolerance, and closure on issues.

INDEPENDENCE: The independence of all those authorities that are legitimately engaged in the electoral process and the resolution of electoral grievances and disputes must be respected and guaranteed by law and their constitutional decisions must be respected and adhered to by those in contest. There must be no interference by any outside interest.

TRANSPARENCY: Transparency is a core element that involves openness at all stages of election organization, which must include access to relevant information on a timely basis, a readiness to provide justification for decisions and a frank admission and swift correction of any mistakes or oversights so as to inspire confidence and credibility in the system in the minds of all stakeholders.

TIMELINESS: Timeliness must be demonstrated in a manner consistent with the other principles before, during and after the poll and at all stages in electoral management, including resolution of disputes as this is an integral element in Electoral Justice. The element of time in the administration of justice cannot be ignored, because justice is a time-bound concept.

Once the dispute resolution time has lapsed political parties should subject themselves to the rule of law as failure of which they may fuel national political upheaval and a spirit of political intolerance.

NON-VIOLENCE (FREEDOM FROM THREATS & VIOLENCE: All stages of the electoral process must be conducted without violence, intimidation, coercion, corruption, or other conduct that can interfere with the free conduct of the political contestation in accordance with the values of the constitution.

Sydney Muyambi
LEAD Secretary General
Together we can