Wakanda News Details

Zim trends in US elections for wrong reasons

THE confirmation of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America on the evening of November 7 put paid to the anxiety that gripped the world in what almost appeared to be a tumultuous moment for one of the world’s biggest democracies. COLUMNIST :TAPIWA GOMO The election pitted Donald Trump, the outgoing President and former Vice-President Biden. The importance of this election cannot be overstated as there is so much at stake. In the past four years Trump has been President of the US, his policies have had a huge negative impact on several countries, global organisations and individuals in his country. His tenure was marked by policies of protectionism which benefited American markets and the rich while denting global economies, mainly China. It was also the same tenure which saw massive racial violence in the United States that spawned protests across the world and is still shaping policies on racial diversity. While the American markets have grown fond of Trump as the economy grew under his term, overall, there are millions of people who wanted to see him go. Trump scores sub-optimally on moral issues which makes him unlikeable to many. By the time the final election results were being announced, Trump was still in denial and insisting on allegations of fraud in the electoral process, yet to concede and pushing forward with the legal process to appeal the outcome. During a Press conference on November 5, Trump alleged that corruption was stealing “such an important election” from him. He claimed he had the numbers to win the election even before the counting was completed. While these allegations were widely condemned as unfounded and baseless, and for their potential threat to the system of democracy in America, they also triggered a wave of comparisons with Zimbabwe among the trending references to autocracy. Zimbabwe is approximately 14 320km from the US. Its economy is by far insignificant compared to America — a global powerhouse which spends nearly two billion dollars per day on defence. The relationship between the two countries after the chaotic land reform in 2000 has been rocky with the US imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe for human rights abuses and other ills. On November 1, the US government announced it would review, and possibly suspend, the generalised system of preferences (GSP) programme which allows Zimbabwe duty-free access to US markets since 1980. The US claims a hold on the global template on democracy carved two centuries ago to which young countries such as Zimbabwe aspire. It is fair to argue that Zimbabwe has something, if not a lot, to learn from the US. But this election has revealed how shameful and saddening it is that Zimbabwe has become a global example of bad politics. There is a lot happening in other parts of the world. There is Venezuela, Belarus, the Syrian crisis and others but it had to be Zimbabwe, the easier example to autocracy. Responding to Trump’s Press conference allegations of electoral fraud, former US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power

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