The Sunday Mail
They often say democracy is popular sovereignty.
In other words, it is a system of governance through which people choose their own representatives through regular, free and fair elections.
At its heart is the recognition that a legitimate political mandate can only come from the people.
But many people prefer to define it in former US president Abraham Lincoln’s words, which poignantly describe it as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Yesterday, the ruling ZANU PF party concluded its 7th National People’s Congress, itself the culmination of a series of elective processes to reconstitute and reinvigorate its critical party organs in line with the dictates of the party’s constitution.
Over the past five years, we have seen ZANU PF reconstituting and strengthening its party cells, which it considers critical building blocks.
We have also seen District Co-ordinating Committee elections in 2020.
We have similarly witnessed provincial elections, followed by those of critical party organs such as the War Veterans League, which was recently upgraded from an affiliate to a wing of the party; Youth League; Women’s League; and the Main Wing.
This month, there were elections for Central Committee members, which is the highest decision-making body outside Congress.
And all these processes were capped by the election of President Mnangagwa as First Secretary of ZANU PF on Friday.
It means he will be the ruling party’s Presidential candidate in the 2023 harmonised elections.
Essentially, it also means ZANU PF is now represented at all levels by members who have been elected by ordinary cadres.
Crucially, the elections were free from drama and rancour, which speaks to the integrity of the processes and the discipline inherent in the revolutionary party.
There is no better way to describe all this than to say it is a typical pageant of democracy.
It was fitting, therefore, for President Mnangagwa to formally acknowledge the party’s internal party processes in his speech on Friday.
“At party level, we are accelerating the modernisation and re-generation processes of our revolutionary movement, while internal democratic practices have been deepened,” he said.
“This saw the successful holding of internal elections of various organs, as stipulated in our constitution, with broader participation of our membership base, albeit bringing to the fore, the need to continually strengthen the ideological grounding of all party cadres.”
But such traditions in the ruling party are not uncommon, as this is the same political formation that fought for more than a decade to dislodge an undemocratic, racist white minority settler regime.
This is the same party that has been religiously holding national elections for the past four decades.
Likewise, this is the party whose Pan-African and egalitarian values have made it known for its principled stand for democracy and equality in Africa and beyond.
It has not been the case in other political parties.
For example, the MDC-T emerged from its December 2020 congress more divided than united.
We even have other formations that call themselves political parties, but do not even have a constitution to provide the guardrails for internal democratic processes.
Their leadership does not even come from the people that they purport to represent.
Yet they have the audacity to call the ruling party undemocratic, even as their practices fell way short of the sacred tenets of democracy.
So, in the current circumstances, it might seem that it is only ZANU PF that presently has the democratic credentials and standing to approach the electorate to be given another mandate to govern Zimbabwe.
And on Friday, President Mnangagwa announced that the party was more than prepared for next year’s harmonised elections.
“ZANU PF is ready. Our systems are oiled. Election materials and resources are in place to mount a roaring campaign for a thunderous victory of our party.
“The people’s revolution is ongoing and unstoppable,” he said.
It is hard to imagine how the opposition can mount an effective challenge against ZANU PF, which has just undergone the elaborate process to strengthen and reinvigorate its structures. Having national leaders who derive their mandate from the people presiding over affairs of the State is comforting, as they are likely to govern with the people and for the people, which is what democracy is all about.
So, let democracy flourish.
