By Success Majaramhepo:
The Zimbabwe Heads of Church Denominations (ZHOCD) yesterday made a an audacious proposal to suspend elections for seven years in the country as a means to building of trust and confidence, reset politics, and chart a share way forward towards a comprehensive economic recovery path in a none-competitive political environment.
If the process is to find takers, Zimbabwe’s political trajectory would be changed forever beginning with a Zanu PF which holds a super majority in Parliament giving away power that it may fail to recover after the Sabbath.
“The current political paralyses and logjam characterised by the failure of the ruling party and the main opposition party to find a workable collaborative model is a great issue of concern.
“The fact that the two main political parties remain stuck in the post-election mode and will soon embark on a new election means Zimbabwe is unlikely to realise any meaningful engagement between these parties towards a shared constitutional alignment agenda,” ZHOD said in a statement.
However, the churches proposal is not new in Zimbabwe’s politics after the Concerned Citizens Platform in 2015 tried in vain to have a transitional authority to run Zimbabwe for three years ahead of the 2018 general elections. The plan found no takers, as both Zanu PF and MDC did not buy into the idea.
It remains to be seen if the parties would agree to have their leaders out of political limelight for seven years or share power while implementing reforms. Between 2008 and 2013 the parties were in an uneasy coalition, but failed to make significant political and economic reforms.
Both Zanu PF and MDC did not immediately comment on the churches’ proposal as they said they had not formally seen the plan.
