UNTIL reforms are instituted and attitudes change, participating in Zimbabwean electoral processes will remain a waste of time, former Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chairperson Temba Mliswa said Wednesday.
Mliswa told a press briefing in the capital that in order to save lives from the “state machinery” he will not campaign and “will only set foot after the elections”.
“I now agree with the MDC-T’s decision not to take part in elections in the absence of reforms but the reforms will not work if there is no mind set shift on the part of the political players in the country.
For a country that is renowned for its high literacy rate to still believe 35 years after independence that people must be beaten up in order to force them to vote for parties that they do not like is appalling,” said Mliswa.
The former Hurungwe West MP, recalled by Zanu PF following his expulsion from the ruling party for his part in an alleged sinister plot to assassinate or dislodge President Robert Mugabe, said the June 10 by-election will be “the state versus Mliswa”.
“The numbers coming from the primary elections show a rejection of the party by its own membership and, as usual, the state machinery is camped in Hurungwe West to assist the ruling party.
They cannot mobilise people and they are now using the police while Local Government Minister (Ignatious Chombo) wants to use chiefs to commandeer people to rallies
“I never set foot at the Zanu PF rally and that is why the Prosecutor General’s office refused to prosecute in the absence of more information. Now I have decided I will only go to Hurungwe West on June 11 because it will be foolish for me to go there and cause anarchy, it will be stupid if I were to go there and get people maimed,” said Mliswa.
“I would not want to be an MP whose job is to take people with broken limbs to hospital”.
However despite his reservations about the electoral field, Mliswa said Zanu PF will be contested in every by-election where “they will be tested”, indicating the emergence of a new opposition outfit to Mugabe’s rule.
“Zanu PF will be contested in every by-election; we know who was controlling the seats in Harare and the other areas where elections will be held. We will talk to them and dialogue openly and in fact I hear in Hurungwe the MDC’s activists are already working with our teams on the campaign trail,” he said.
Mliswa is part of a group of Zanu PF leaders expelled from the ruling party as factional fights reached a crescendo in the run-up and after the party’s December congress.
His uncle and former Zanu PF secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, has indicated that a new party will be formed under the leadership of ex-vice president Joice Mujuru.
Mliswa told a press briefing in the capital that in order to save lives from the “state machinery” he will not campaign and “will only set foot after the elections”.
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| Temba Mliswa |
For a country that is renowned for its high literacy rate to still believe 35 years after independence that people must be beaten up in order to force them to vote for parties that they do not like is appalling,” said Mliswa.
The former Hurungwe West MP, recalled by Zanu PF following his expulsion from the ruling party for his part in an alleged sinister plot to assassinate or dislodge President Robert Mugabe, said the June 10 by-election will be “the state versus Mliswa”.
“The numbers coming from the primary elections show a rejection of the party by its own membership and, as usual, the state machinery is camped in Hurungwe West to assist the ruling party.
They cannot mobilise people and they are now using the police while Local Government Minister (Ignatious Chombo) wants to use chiefs to commandeer people to rallies
“I never set foot at the Zanu PF rally and that is why the Prosecutor General’s office refused to prosecute in the absence of more information. Now I have decided I will only go to Hurungwe West on June 11 because it will be foolish for me to go there and cause anarchy, it will be stupid if I were to go there and get people maimed,” said Mliswa.
“I would not want to be an MP whose job is to take people with broken limbs to hospital”.
However despite his reservations about the electoral field, Mliswa said Zanu PF will be contested in every by-election where “they will be tested”, indicating the emergence of a new opposition outfit to Mugabe’s rule.
“Zanu PF will be contested in every by-election; we know who was controlling the seats in Harare and the other areas where elections will be held. We will talk to them and dialogue openly and in fact I hear in Hurungwe the MDC’s activists are already working with our teams on the campaign trail,” he said.
Mliswa is part of a group of Zanu PF leaders expelled from the ruling party as factional fights reached a crescendo in the run-up and after the party’s December congress.
His uncle and former Zanu PF secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, has indicated that a new party will be formed under the leadership of ex-vice president Joice Mujuru.
