Tsvangirai trashes 2018 poll ‘results’ Morgan Tsvangirai
Mr Morgan Tsvangirai

Mr Morgan Tsvangirai

Takunda Maodza Assistant News Editor
MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday said he will not accept results of next year’s harmonised elections unless they delivered victory for the opposition.

Mr Tsvangirai’s statement, made during ZCTU-organised Workers Day celebrations in Dzivaresekwa, Harare, dovetailed with sentiments made by his deputy Ms Thokozani Khupe in the United Kingdom on Saturday where she said MDC-T had Plan B if President Mugabe prevails in 2018.

She said: “If Mugabe refuses to go, we have Plan B. I can’t divulge the details now because I don’t know who is here, but I can assure you that Mugabe will not steal the vote again.”

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In all elections, MDC-T has contested since 1999, Mr Tsvangirai has lost and alleged rigging every time.

Yesterday he told scores of party supporters disguised as workers: “We will not accept any outcome which is not victory for the opposition, ndakuita hwaTrump manje. Trump said he will not accept the result if he does not come victorious.”

Mr Tsvangirai, whose party was routed by Zanu-PF in the last harmonised elections, claimed Zanu-PF was now a minority and minorities do not win at the ballot.

“If I do not win in 2018 I will not accept the election result because it is very simple. How does a minority win over the majority. How a minority divided, fragmented and imploding win over a united opposition and a united alternative,” he added.

Zanu-PF dominated parliamentary elections in 2013, winning 160 seats with MDC-T managing a paltry 49 seats.

In the Presidential election, President Mugabe out-polled Mr Tsvangirai with 61.09 percent of the votes cast to 34.94 percent.

Mr Tsvangirai went on to allege that Zanu-PF was already rigging the 2018 elections saying he had received information to that effect.

“We have all the information, you (President Mugabe) want to cheat like what you did with Nikuv in 2013,” he said.

“We are faced with elections in 2018, there is no outcome yatinobvuma which is not a victory for the opposition.”

Mr Tsvangirai laughed off the state of the economy saying even farmers were failing to make ends meet.

“If you are a farmer failing to pay workers how can you say you are a farmer. I have bigwigs I know who admit that they are failing to pay workers and all their ill-gotten wealth has gone down the drain. The unfortunate thing is that they are other workers who will grow up and become pensioners before they even work.

We want you to work for your children. We want you to have a bright future. That is why we are saying 2018 there has to be no other option but change. The other only option is to die.” he said.

Added Mr Tsvangirai: “Chanaka vana vembwa havasvinure musi umwe, tese tasvinura nenhamo”.

He said there was no other option in 2018 other than an opposition win.

“In 2018 they have to be no other option but change. Option ingatoita ndeye kufa,” said Mr Tsvangirai without elaborating what he meant by “kufa”.

The event turned into a political gathering with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions delving into politics at the expense of issues affecting workers.

While Mr Tsvangirai yesterday alleged the 2013 election was stolen by Zanu-PF, it will be remembered that his then secretary general Mr Tendai Biti in March 2014, admitted the MDC-T lost squarely to Zanu-PF because it failed to market itself.

Speaking at a policy dialogue held at Sapes Trust in Harare, Mr Biti said the Zanu-PF “bhora mugedhi” message resonated with the electorate while the MDC-T’s JUICE (Jobs, Upliftment Investment Capital and Environment) was too vague for the voters to comprehend.

“I think that it is important as Zimbabweans that the democratic movement has a message. The message of NO to the big man has been exhausted. Let us have a message, messages are key. Zanu in the last election had a very simple message, bhora mugedhi. Even a little woman in Chendambuya or Dotito just knew one thing, bhora mugedhi. Perhaps we were too sophisticated, but what was our message because the message of change of 2000 is not the message for now.

“We were selling hopes and dreams when Zanu PF was selling practical realities.”

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