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Yoliswa Dube
The rift in MDC-T, which started soon after the July elections and reached a new level in March with the suspension of deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma, widened further at the weekend after a national executive council meeting voted overwhemingly to suspend party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.
The meeting at Mandel Training Centre in Harare was called by Tendai Biti, the secretary general and Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, the secretary of the party’s guardian council.
Nkomo announced the suspension of Tsvangirai, together with his deputy, Thokozani Khupe, national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa, national chairman Lovemore Moyo, Morgan Komichi and spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora on allegations of using violence to silence dissenting voices within the party.
However, Tsvangirai loyalists rejected the suspension saying it was “unconstitutional” adding they were behind him 100 percent until the next congress slated for 2016.
Analysts yesterday said going forward, the situation was likely to develop on two fronts.
The party could fall under Biti or he would form a new party altogether. If and only if Tsvangirai exercised political intellect and tactics could he be able to contain the discontentment in MDC-T, they said.
“Besides calling it a split or otherwise, there already were factions in the party. The move by (Elton) Mangoma and Biti was some culmination of the discontentment in the party. What is likely to happen now is another version of the MDC being formed or another new party altogether. I don’t see re-unification of all these parties happening,” said political analyst, Dr Lawton Hikwa.
He said the party had failed to contain its problems, resulting in senior members washing their dirty linen in public.
“It’s not encouraging what is happening at the MDC-T right now. For Tsvangirai, the fact that there are people who want him to step down means there is a problem and the fact that he has failed to effect regime change, as he set out to do, is also discouraging.
“Tsvangirai will need political intellect and tactic as well to contain discontentment in the party going forward. If he fails to do that, his position as a leader of the opposition will end,” said Dr Hikwa.
Other analysts said that MDC-T had no chance of surviving this turmoil.
“I think the MDC-T was finished at the elections last year. All of this is just proving that the party is finished. It was just not yet apparent to members of the public. We’re only seeing it now but it was finished a while ago,” said Dr Gatsha Mazithulela, a political analyst and newspaper columnist.
He said it no longer mattered whether or not there would be four or five factions of the MDC. MDC-T would not be missed if it disappeared neither would it be noticed if it sticks around.
The MDC-T has been described as an ideologically bankrupt party with its power hungry leaders offering nothing but service to themselves and cannot be taken seriously.
Dr Collen Sabao, a political analyst said:
“I’ve lost faith in the MDC-T. What Tsvangirai claims to be trying to change is exactly what he is doing. How can he want to end what he calls (President) Mugabe’s monarchial rule yet he is doing what he accuses the president of doing?
“He thinks he is the only face of the MDC-T and no-one else can lead the party which is oxymoronic seeing that all this trouble came after the suggestion of leadership renewal came about. I find Biti justified, Tsvangirai has not done anything for that party.”
MDC-T has gone back and forth with the confusion intensifying after Mangoma openly called for leadership renewal a few weeks ago. Biti immediately came to Mangoma’s defence declaring he had been saddened by the unconstitutional manner in which people had connived to subvert the party constitution and founding values.
Political analyst, Dr Tafataona Mahoso said:
“There is nothing new here. These are people who have nothing better to do except focus on political struggle. Let’s focus on issues of production instead. We shouldn’t be following the MDC-T, we should be focusing on the people.”
Suspended party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said in a statement at the weekend that he saw Biti’s “attempt at an awkward coup de tat” coming.
“We saw this coming. We deliberated on setting the tribunal but delayed in order to give dialogue a chance because of president (Morgan) Tsvangirai’s magnanimity. (Jacob) Mafume did a press conference in which he said the differences are irreconcilable then announced that Biti was to announce his position in due course. He did so yesterday (26 April). Biti has now formally formed his party.”
He said the meeting that was convened at the weekend could never pass as a meeting of the national council of the MDC-T, because of the manner in which it was convened and its composition.
He said the powers of the secretary- general of the party are spelt out in Article 9.5 of the party’s constitution; which is clear that the secretary-general has absolutely no power to convene a national council meeting.
“Maybe the secretary-general confused his duty to ensure that national council meetings have to comply with constitutional requirements with actually convening the meeting itself,” said Mwonzora.
He said it therefore followed that the purported national council meeting fundamentally violated the provisions of the MDC-T constitution.
Mwonzora claimed that the meeting was a culmination of a sustained programme of both overt and covert operations involving Zanu-PF, state security agents and Professor Welshman Ncube.
“This meeting was void therefore no lawful and binding resolutions can derive from it,” he said.
Mwonzora said various structures and organs of the party would meet members of the national standing committee to deliberate on latest developments and proffer a way forward.
Until then, the political fraternity awaits the emergence of MDC-B or the formation of a new party.
Online Reporter