ZwNews Chief Correspondent
In Zimbabwe, when one talks of economics; diamonds, gold, and agriculture comes to mind; when one speaks of sport then for many, football becomes the common denominator, and when one talks of politics, Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance (MDC-Alliance) President Nelson Chamisa seems to be the man of the moment.
For some, Chamisa, who narrowly lost the presidential elections to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, through a court ruling, ran a good race, as for football pundits, they would love to call it ‘he went down fighting.’
Chamisa is in bullish mood, he maintains that he won the election; according to him, Mnangagwa stole the election with the help of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the country’s constitutional body mandated to run the polls, as well as with the help of the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, which ruled in his favour.
Despite the so-called constitutional and electoral loss, Chamisa still seems to be the man to beat. His rallies are being well attended, this is now an equation for some, as they wonder where the young man’s charm lies. Why many still want to be associated with a so-called electoral loser.
Previously, when one loses an election then his or her relevance begin to sink into political oblivion, in some instances, other losers have either hibernated or joined certain political parties in an attempt to remain politically relevant.
In that bracket, the good example is that of ZimPF leader Agrippa Mutambara who has since announced that his party has been disbanded and joined the ‘bigger tent,’ the MDC.
In his statement announcing the disbandment of his party, Mutambara had this to say; “Following the decision by the Presidium to fold our party, we hand back the offices donated to us.
“I am aware that there are many in our party who are against the disbandment. However, the Presidium of our party are of the view that the majority of our members favour that we join the MDC.”
In yet other instances, parties have disintegrated after election loss, while others have resorted to the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ bandwagon.
However, this seem not to be the case with Chamisa, who is currently engaged in nationwide rallies meant to thank his supporters, as well as updating them on the way forward, following what he terms electoral theft by Mnangagwa.
According to a prominent political commentator, Doctor Pedzisai Ruhanya, there is something peculiar about Chamisa’s drawing of crowds and the electoral outcome.
“Regardless of the so-called loss by the young leader, what explains the big numbers post election at MDC rallies in Gwanda, Beitbridge, Chinhoyi, etc, what drives this moment?
“If indeed Chamisa lost in the 2018 polls as alleged why should thousands of people continue to be associated with an alleged electoral loser…?”
Ruhanya believes that there is some dissonance between the massive MDC support and the election outcome.
According to analysts, if Chamisa had indeed lost the election, by now he should not have been able to continuously pull great crowds to his rallies.
