The opposition leader, who maintains he won the disputed 2018 general elections against Mnangagwa, also accused the president and his ruling Zanu-PF party of embarking on “a relentless assault and onslaught upon democracy and our party.”
He said Mnangagwa was trying to punish him for “winning” the polls.
“Rising authoritarianism has rendered the State unstable and saddled with serious contradictions. Unstable oppressive regimes are dangerous to their own citizens,” said Chamisa in an virtual address titled “The Zimbabwe Agenda 2021.”
“The gross human rights violations against regional and international instruments must be seen within this context. But we must not lose hope. Storms make us stronger yet they never last forever.”
Chamisa accused his arch-rival of using “surrogates” to destroy the MDC Alliance by diverting its funds to Douglas Mwonzora’s MDC-T and stripping it of its Harvest House headquarters.
Recalling councilors and lawmakers was another gambit by Zanu-PF to decimate the main opposition, Chamisa said, vowing such efforts would never succeed because “Zimbabwean people are politically literate and advanced. They can distinguish between right and wrong.”
“The regime also diverted our funding under the Political Parties Finance Act, giving it to its surrogates. The purpose of all this was to punish our party for resisting the illegitimacy of the outcome of the 2018 elections, which lacked credibility and acceptability,” he added.
He also said defections by former opposition members or lawmakers – the latest being Lilian Timveos and Blessing Chebundo – to Zanu-PF were good for the MDC Alliance as it rid itself of sellouts.
Zanu-PF information director Tafadzwa Mugwadi appeared to confirm last Thursday that the ruling party was on a one-party State trajectory.
Responding to the renewal of sanctions targeting Mnangagwa and his allies, Mugwadi said, “As long as sanctions are there, Zimbabwe will soon become a one-party State. People like (Nelson) Chamisa (MDC Alliance president) will be taken like rebel leaders and it won’t end well.”
