Thread by @Wamagaisa

What is the game plan?

1. The regime wants a GNU with a weak and submissive opposition it can control. They can tell the world that they are now working with the MDC. The regime identified a weak seam in the opposition - a coterie of the disgruntled keen to join the gravy train

2. They want to amend the law in order to get rid of by-elections. Having dubiously & scandalously awarded the MDC Alliance seats to Khupe & associates they can fill the seats left vacant by any recalls without any contest, eliminating the risk of losing.

3. The GNU agreement will include a constitutional amendment to avoid elections for 7 years on the grounds of focusing on the economy. They will invite various “stakeholders” (make that steakholders) including civil society & churches to make it look inclusive. A political fraud

4. There will be a concurrent campaign to discredit Chamisa and his colleagues in the MDC Alliance, including Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube. Virtually anything. Current MPs are already being offered trinkets and receiving threats in a carrot and stick strategy.

5. But none of this will confer legitimacy on the regime. The plan is to crush the head of the MDC Alliance with the help of opposition enablers. However, stealing opposition seats is one thing. Winning the hearts & minds of opposition supporters is a different proposition.

6. Manipulating political institutions and rearranging the deck chairs of the struggling ship is one thing. Saving it requires a lot more than that. The international community, whose support the regime is desperate for can see through these hideous political machinations.

7. None of the opposition characters that the regime has courted has the political capital to provide the respect & recognition that it’s desperate for in the international community. They know it but they will be very happy to join the feeding trough. So brace for a dubious GNU.