Opinion by Margaret Matibiri
THE fourth MDC planned demonstration which was scheduled for Masvingo has been met by yet another police prohibition order leading to closure of shops due to the uncertainty lingering around.
Religiously like what was done in Harare and Bulawayo, the party lawyers have sought to overturn the demonstration ban through the High Court but the courts will offer no reprieve.
The MDC is caught between a rock and a hard place but Zanu PF has also not been spared in the process, the two political giants have reached a stalemate.
The majority of MDC party supporters are willing to push back against government and camp in the streets if need be while at the same time taking this route would render them unruly and champions of anarchy.
The Nelson Chamisa led party which still maintains that it won the 2018 harmonised election and was rigged out of power by the constitutional court’s ruling which hammered the final nail on Emmerson Mnangagwa’s presidency risks coming out as riotous.
The stance by the courts which have been upholding the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) orders has left MDC to bleed in the cold as there are a few unfavourable options left.
It would seem there are only three options left, one of them being accepting the hard reality that demonstrations will not work out and retreat to the drawing board and restrategize.
The ‘status quo’ gives Chamisa an impression of a desperate loser.
This position would make at seem like the leadership is chickening out of attacking the cock head on but it is one of the sensible options on the table.
This position will not do any harm to the MDC in the face of the international community as it would speak to how government has gagged it into silence. It would show how the party would have respected the rule of law to maintain peace and order at the brink of heavy violence possibly breaking out fueled by the sharp deteriorating economic situation in the country.
Regardless of it seeming like the less harmful option out, it would be a disappointment to the masses, some who had come back in the country to demonstrate as was promised and were ready to do or die for what they believe in.
The second option would be for the MDC leadership to join the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) and try and voice their concerns through that platform.
However, joining polad would mean the MDC would have accepted that Mnangagwa is the rightful president elect of the country which would be a hard pill to swallow for the main opposition party which has made noise over his legitimacy.
Another huddle on this path is that the door to POLAD might not be still open for parties that snubbed calls to join when invitations were extended.
But on Tuesday, the government gave a grace period and said the door to POLAD was still wide open.
The MDC might be left out to dry and possibly lose relevance before contesting for the 2023 elections.
The last option which is the most unfavorable one is for the MDC to go guns blazing and go against the government with everything it has without looking back.
This would see them pushing back and going ahead with the demonstrations regardless of the court orders and possibly failing to uphold constitutionalism.
It would also probably result in a bloodbath with the security forces meeting the demonstrators with equal if not extra force in turn and the party will be labelled a party of violence.
On the other hand, the Zanu PF led government has so far managed to get its way by pulling the legal card and stopping their opponent in his tracks stopping the demonstrations.
It has so far managed to infringe on the rights of the citizens to demonstrate though it has been done with a ‘good excuse’ that violence would have easily erupted.
However, if the MDC feels like it has nothing to lose and goes ahead with demonstrations, the security forces would clash with civilians and the government would have the international community to answer to gross abuse of human rights.
The stance of banning demonstrations might be upheld, but if done for too long, it would seem that the government has no respect to the rule of law and will manipulate the constitution and judiciary system to keep itself in power.
It literally means the government must just abandon constitutionalism since they always twist it willy nilly to suit their needs.
This might lead to a civil uprising which may not be easily contained as an in-house problem rendering their quest to appeal to the international community and re engage useless.
The Zanu PF led government risks attracting more sanctions for gross abuse of human rights if the matter is not resolved smoothly.
Investors would shun Zimbabwe on the basis of its would be failure to uphold the rule of law and this would plunge the whole country into further turmoil and turbulence.