FIREBRAND opposition politician and MDC Renewal secretary general,Tendai Biti, has called on President Robert Mugabe and his entire government to resign immediately and surrender the running of the country to an autonomous caretaker administration with better ideas on how to take the country forward.
Short of any compliance by the regime, Biti said, Zimbabweans must take the onus and demand their liberties through street protests. Addressing journalists in Harare on Wednesday Biti accused the Zanu PF government of running the country down through unbridled corruption and misrule. “…We restate that the present government should resign and that the economy is run by the National Transition Technical Council (NTTC),” Biti said. “The NTTC must immediately work on reviving the economy and supervising the reform agenda, which must create conditions for a credible election that produces a legitimate government in 2018.” Biti continued: “However, Zanu PF in its arrogance will clearly not give in to the proposed NTTC. “Therefore, the onus is thus on the people of Zimbabwe to free themselves by confronting the Zanu PF dictatorship. “Zanu PF is not interested in dialogue and in respecting the citizen. Therefore, it is up to the people to use their constitutional rights and confront Zanu PF.” The veteran law maker cited provisions of the national Constitution which he said allowed citizens to demand good governance from their rulers through peaceful protests. “It is time for Zimbabwe to Stand-Up!!!” Biti said. He was however quick to discount being party to a national convention being envisaged by his erstwhile comrades in the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Biti was adamant politicians should not lead any calls for any inclusive process aimed at inventing economic remedies for the battered nation. “Discredited individuals and organisations with tattered reputations have no right to call for this; it loses credibility. So we in the MDC believe that civic society, opposition parties and Zimbabweans must meet to dialogue on the way forward in fighting our current hapless and helpless status quo,” he said. “We the political players must just be small players. We can’t lead this process because we have been leading for the past 15 years and we have led people to nowhere.” The former Finance Minister painted a grim picture of the country’s economic outlook which saw its growth trajectory plummet from 12 per cent during the period he was in charge in 2011 to just below 4 per cent in 2014 under the Zanu PF government. Biti rebuked the Zanu PF led government for abandoning the delicate but more prudent cash budget system he pursued during his term. “In fragile states like Zimbabwe, it is irresponsible and criminally idiotic to abandon cash budget,” he said. “A government must always eat what it kills and failure to respect this cardinal rule is fatal.” |