THE deafening silence that followed Donald John Trump’s stunning victory against Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton in the recently held US presidential elections was a far cry from the buoyancy that opposition parties in Zimbabwe, who wanted a Democratic Party victory, had shown prior to the polls.
But before anything else is said, the compelling issue about this whole American election drama is that Trump’s victory is good for Americans while Clinton’s defeat is even better for Zimbabwe.
The tragedy with outfits (opposition parties and movements) created with no solid local bases is that even their brains reside in the lands, whims and caprices of those who conceive them.
Such is their foolishness that when they are told to breathe, they can auction their land to buy the air, oblivious to the fact that air, like thinking, is a free commodity on earth.
The crux of this discussion is that what we have here is not only a clueless opposition, but one whose life depends on the fortunes or misfortunes of certain characters, never with that of the people they purport to represent.
This is where ZANU PF always outclasses others.
Its roots are firmly stuck in the hearts and minds of the grassroots.
It befuddles the mind to fathom that the opposition here is mourning more than the bereaved, Clinton!
Back to the opposition’s US polls’ fatal error of judgement; on the eve of the US election, diplomatic recklessness coupled with enthusiastic cheers for Clinton who as it turned out, had already put in place yet another anti-Zimbabwe onslaught had been the order of the day in opposition ranks.
It was for many reasons that the opposition duly retreated into their cracking shells as news emerged that the maverick Trump had romped to victory.
Clinton, who, many may remember, was one of those who aggressively pushed for the destructin of the Zimbabwe economy, had adopted an ‘endgame’ plan that was designed to seal Harare’s fate.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T leader of the opposition and forever clueless, had let the plan out on the eve of the US polls when he said President Mugabe and ZANU PF’s ‘endgame’ was upon us.
One of the options was embarking on mass protests to push ‘the regime out of power’, Tsvangirai was quoted as saying by the noisy and preposterous South African online publication The Daily Maverick.
“The endgame, to me, is nearer than it has ever been. The state is fragmented. ZANU PF is fragmented. The centre is not holding.
“The opposition and social movements have been emboldened by the actions they have taken; they are in a more aggressive position, which is good.”
Then the unwitting letting out of the Clinton intervention.
“There is also international isolation and the continued demand by the international community to put conditions on the Mugabe government to be rescued from their economic situation. It’s a fantastic combination. There is convergence,” said the excitable Tsvangirai.
Several European countries, led as usual by Britain, with France and Belgium in tow, have taken the unusual step of re-engaging with Zimbabwe.
This is in sharp contrast to the path that Clinton wanted, which Tsvangirai and his many counterparts in the opposition were anticipating through that woman’s supposed victory.
The re-engagement thrust is built upon the embarrassing failure of the widely discredited sanctions package against Harare.
Clinton played a very prominent role in calling for the sanctions in the US Senate and Congress.
She would go on to oppose efforts by Barack Obama to normalise relations with Harare during her tenure as Secretary of State in the outgoing American administration.
Not only that, her ‘endgame’ project inspired one of Zimbabwe’s modern-day tormentors and former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Johnnie Carson.
Carson was the henchman hired to implement the demented Clinton’s ‘new’ policy for Zimbabwe, a very hostile policy.
Tsvangirai was in the loop, he knew the disastrous Clinton ‘endgame’ plan.
In an interview with pirate radio station Studio 7 on Monday last week, Tsvangirai threw diplomacy out of the window when he openly declared that he was backing Clinton for the ticket to the White House.
“Eheka ndirikutsigira Mai Clinton. Mai Clinton munhu wandinoziva, ndakashanda navo and mukadzi anonyatsoziva zvaari,” said Tsvangirai.
What then for Tsvangirai, now that Trump whom he openly resented, won?
Trump will most likely ignore the opposition noise for the destabilisation of Zimbabwe and he is unlikely to fund the opposition given that it may take some time for Harare to catch the attention of an America battling to restore its image in the eyes of an angry and aggrieved world.
Already there are fears that under Trump, the US may renege on its pledge to fund climate change efforts made in France last year.
But Zimbabwe will remain strong in the face of adversity as ever while the opposition will remain broke, ignored and crumbling.
Let those with ears listen.