Sunday, May 12, 2013

British Newspaper Predicts ZANU-PF Victory in Elections

British paper predicts Zanu PF victory in elections

Sunday, 12 May 2013 00:00
Kuda Bwititi
Zimbabwe Herald

Widely-read British newspaper The Guardian on Friday predicted a victory for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF in the forthcoming harmonised elections while also revealing that MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has been branded “a disaster” by some of his close allies. This comes as the embattled Prime Minister continues to receive his worst criticism from Western media since he became leader of the party.

The newspaper also predicted that the victory for President Mugabe will leave the West with no choice but to lift the sanctions on Zimbabwe.

In an article titled, Robert Mugabe: The Rehabilitation, the publication said President Mugabe will most likely retain power after peaceful, free and fair elections.

“The following scenario, once unthinkable, is now just conceivable. The Zimbabwean president will retain power in this year’s elections through fair means or foul; the poll will be relatively peaceful and deemed ‘credible’ by the West; then sanctions will be lifted against Mugabe and his inner circle, ushering him back in from the cold.”

The newspaper also quoted an unnamed senior MDC-T official as saying Mr Tsvangirai had become a “total disaster” that had dismally let the party down.

“I think he’s been a total disaster. He’s let us all down. But the important thing to remember is the MDC is bigger than Morgan Tsvangirai,” the unnamed MDC- T stalwart is quoted as saying. The publication also reported that the MDC-T had disappointed its members following Mr Tsvangirai’s messy sex scandals and the shocking levels of corruption which the party has admitted.

It said the visit to Zimbabwe by senior American emissaries Ambassador Andrew Young and Reverend Jesse Jackson had shown that the international community is eager to work closely with President Mugabe.

The President’s foes have even begun to accept that the land reform programme, which attracted the imposition of sanctions at the behest of former colonial master, Britain, has yielded tremendous success, the newspaper added. “The MDC stands accused of the sins of incumbency, its leadership seduced by ministerial houses and luxury cars; the party has been forced to discipline some councillors for corruption. It has failed to heal a factional rift that could divide its support.

“Leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who serves as prime minister in the unity government, has been criticised for becoming too close to Mugabe and for an unseemly run of sex scandals.

“. . .Most contentiously of all, researchers have begun to challenge the orthodoxy that Zimbabwe’s land reform programme was an unmitigated disaster.” In the article, a fierce critic of President Mugabe, Petinah Gappah was quoted as saying: “Even non-supporters believe this reassessment is a necessary corrective after years of demonisation.

“He was overtoxified in the first place. This idea of Mugabe as Hitler? He’s extremely charming and intelligent. This idea of a mindless thug underestimates his intelligence.

“This cartoonish, caricatured Idi Amin figure fails to recognise his insidious effect on the country. If he didn’t exist, they would have had to invent him.”

The latest round of criticism of Mr Tsvangirai comes after several other Western media houses including The New York Times, CNN and The Telegraph concurred that he is unlikely to win the forthcoming harmonised elections.

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