The ManicaPost
Tafara Shumba: Post Correspondent
The victory of the Republican candidate, Donald Trump whom the world had regarded as the underdog in the just ended US’ most polarised election, has sent shock waves across the globe.Trump, a new comer in politics, thrashed Hillary Clinton, a seasoned politician of not less than forty years of political experience. However, Clinton conceded defeat in a manner that left her with dignity. She left a lesson that must not escape most of the opposition political parties in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe. These opposition parties believe that a free and fair election is the one whose results are in their favour.
“I know how disappointed you feel, because I feel it too. And so do tens of millions of Americans who invested their hopes and dreams in this effort. This is painful, and it will be for a long time.
But I want you to remember this. Our campaign was never about one person, or even one election. It was about the country we love and building an America that is hopeful, inclusive, and big-hearted. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought.
But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power,” said Clinton in her emotional concession speech.The most striking aspect in her speech is that she beseeched her supporters to accept the results and give her rival the chance to lead.
With 16 years experience as a political loser, Morgan Tsvangirai has not learnt a thing about conceding defeat in the manner Clinton did. He has been accusing Zanu PF of stealing elections ever since he joined the presidential race. He cannot accept defeat even if it is as plain as the nose on his face. Even if Zanu PF dances in water, Tsvangirai accuses it of raising dust.
One of those who were shocked by Trump’s victory is the MDC-T family, particularly Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai is very close to Clinton and the democrats in general. The relationship can be explained by the convention invites that the Democrats have been extending to the Zimbabwean opposition.
To Tsvangirai, it was given that the former First Lady would effortlessly romp to victory. Tsvangirai had envisaged a US under the tutelage of Madam Clinton who would force Zanu PF out of power.
Tsvangirai had expected Clinton to pursue a hawkish foreign policy on Zimbabwe where she would be more interfering with the Zimbabwe polity. Obviously the MDC-T is crying more than Clinton herself.
They had taken a word from the phony prophets who had predicted a Clinton victory. Opinion polls had also concluded that Clinton would make history as the US’ first woman president. Clinton had also ‘resoundingly won’ in the newsrooms.
It is yet to be seen if these doomsayers will remain with a modicum of credibility after such a disastrous and inaccurate prediction. Mr Tsvangirai can be forgiven for believing TB Joshua’s prediction for he once accurately predicted on his zero chances of becoming Zimbabwe’s president.
It’s a lesson for those who are fond of predicting elections basing on superficial factors. It rakes memories of the 2013 harmonised elections where a landslide victory in favour of the MDC-T was predicted. Even the first democratic elections of 1980 were inaccurately predicted.
Writing on his facebook wall, veteran journalist Geofry Nyarota said: “Back in 1980 the establishment, that is the Ian Smith Regime, the white population, the mainstream media, collectively and desperately wanted Bishop Abel Muzorewa to win our first democratic elections.
But the electorate voted overwhelmingly for the prematurely demonised Robert Mugabe. Trump’s victory should provide a salutary lesson for us in the media, at least sufficiently to cause us to desist from seeking to impose our own wishes on the electorate.”
Nevertheless, Zimbabwe will not shed a tear for Clinton for she is the architect of the misery facing the nation. She, along with other racist US senators sponsored the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) when it was introduced as a bill in the senate by Senators Bill First and Russ Feingold.
She is the devil that Zimbabwe knows and expecting that she could have removed the sanctions she sponsored upon her ascendancy to presidency is like expecting to see a virgin prostitute. At least nobody knows exactly what Trump will do with these heinous sanctions.
He might turn out to be a good man for Zimbabwe, notwithstanding what he is attributed to have said about President Mugabe. That’s politics and the insanity moments of campaigning which politically conscious people will not read much into. In his campaign, Trump has talked about deporting about 6 million immigrants, total shutdown of Muslims entering the US, overruling same sex marriage and even imprisoning Clinton among other infamous policy proposals. That will be naive to expect him to keep his word.
Trump knew the demographic composition of the electorate. He was correctly advised that the whites, who are predominantly racists, were the majority. He, therefore, played the racist card to appease the racist majority who don’t want to see immigrants whom they believe lower their wages and take their jobs. His racist remarks, thus, resonated well with the racist majority and this partly explains why Trump won.
From Trump’s ‘let’s make America great again’ campaign rhetoric, one can see a hint that the man is more concerned about America and its citizens than concentrating on wars with other countries that do not benefit America.
In that vein, Trump is likely to be too busy to focus on small countries such as Zimbabwe and Uganda among others. Trump will not even do anything about the US’ awkward alliance with despots such as Saudi Arabia and many other terrorist groups that his predecessors created.
