adminLovemore Mataire Harare Bureau
THE much-hyped union of the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube and the Renewal Party led by Sekai Holland has suffered a stillbirth because of a leadership crisis.
Sources close to developments in both parties said unity seemed to have been stalled by leadership wrangles. “The truth of the matter is that there’s a serious crisis in terms of who’s to lead the party. On one side there’s (Tendai) Biti and (Elton) Mangoma while on the other side people are not agreed on Professor Ncube whom they see as a liability given his tribal tendencies,” said a source who requested anonymity.
Besides the leadership wrangles, the two parties were also not agreed on the ideological foundation of the party as others argued the party should not pursue the same liberal policies that led to the dismal failure of the MDC-T in the 2013 harmonised elections.
“The crisis that confronts the so-called opposition in Zimbabwe is that they’re fake alternatives which are not rooted in any ideological framework. As such the parties neither acknowledge nor celebrate the liberation ethos and as such are viewed as Western appendages fixated on the removal of an individual from power,” said the source.
Contacted for comment, spokesperson for the MDC Renewal Team Jacob Mafume attributed the delay in the merger to the slow pace of the roadmap which the two parties are expected to roll out and implement before a joint congress set for July this year.
“We’ve a roadmap in place that we’re supposed to implement after the signing ceremony of the two parties. First, the two parties need to audit their structures and submit results of the audits to a council of elders who will then verify the audits at both district and provincial levels. The two parties will then hold their respective congresses before a joint congress to be held in July or August,” said Mafume.
He said at the moment the two parties had co-presidents in Holland and Prof Ncube who were supposed to coordinate the activities of the two parties in Parliament and caucusing at various levels.
Mafume described the planned new party as a pan-Africanist entity that believes in the democratisation of all sectors in Zimbabwe.
Spokesman for the MDC, Nhlanhla Dube, said there was nothing amiss in the delay in the amalgamation of the two parties as there were still a lot of things to be sorted out before they could become a single entity.
“You must remember that this is a process and not an event. You must appreciate that we’re bringing two parties which have been strategically apart for one reason or another. Yes, there could be people who are apprehensive but the issue of leadership is not an issue for debate. The person who is to lead the new party will emerge out of the inaugural elective congress that will take place sometime in August,” said Dube.
He said Prof Ncube remains the preferred leader from the MDC side and those aspiring for the same post would be known during the joint congress scheduled for August.
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