President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei to Zimbabwe\u2019s Senate. Under the constitutional amendment Mnangagwa signed in July, senators will join members of the National Assembly in electing the president. Think about the privilege that gives Tagwirei. A man who entered Parliament by presidential appointment now has a vote in choosing a president. The citizen who queued to vote for Mnangagwa in 2023 has lost the right to cast that same ballot again. I would like to hear a ZANU PF official explain to that voter why Tagwirei\u2019s judgment should carry further than hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That question matters more than the speculation about whether Tagwirei wants the job himself. He has moved from the ruling party\u2019s central committee into the Senate, Cabinet and politburo. Mnangagwa has never publicly named him as his successor. We can leave the guessing to those who enjoy it. The appointments already give us plenty to discuss. Who examined his record on behalf of the people he now represents? Which voters had the opportunity to hear his case, consider another candidate and turn him down?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Chinhoyi, ZANU PF moved its elective congress from 2027 to 2029 and endorsed Mnangagwa\u2019s continued leadership. Constantino Chiwenga used the same gathering to ask whether party resolutions truly came from ordinary members. It was a fair question, particularly from the man charged with introducing the President. But I would put a question back to him. If a party member in Chinhoyi deserves a genuine say in who leads ZANU PF, what say should her neighbour, who belongs to no party at all, have in who leads Zimbabwe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon enough somebody will point to a crowd as evidence that the succession has popular backing. A photograph can establish that people turned up. It cannot tell us who paid for the buses, who came out of conviction, who wanted a meal or who would quietly vote for somebody else. All four could be standing in the same row. That privacy is one of the great merits of a ballot. A citizen can take the ride, listen politely, go home and still owe a politician absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the presidential choice moves into Parliament, the political calculation changes. A hopeful with money and connections has a smaller group to persuade. A legislator who hopes to keep a place on the party ticket has reason to consider what an independent choice might cost. No money needs to change hands for that pressure to matter. Zimbabweans have already seen elected representatives lose their seats after disputed recalls. They know how much can ride on remaining in favour with whoever claims to speak for the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two citizens have taken the question somewhere a rally cannot settle it. On 2 November, the Constitutional Court reserved judgment on an application by Eliphas Kawa and Hazvineyi Machingura seeking direct access to challenge provisions concerning the presidential vote and presidential appointments to the Senate. Their application connects the very powers ZANU PF would prefer us to consider separately. A president can help determine who sits in the chamber, and that chamber gets to choose a president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I keep coming back to the voter who supported Mnangagwa in good faith. She may still prefer him. She may admire Chiwenga, welcome Tagwirei\u2019s rise or want somebody whose name has yet to appear in a succession column. Every one of those judgments is hers to make. The government found room in the Senate for a businessman the President wanted there. It owes that woman an explanation for taking her pencil out of the presidential election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei to Zimbabwe\u2019s Senate. Under the constitutional amendment Mnangagwa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t