Zimbabwe’s main opposition party teetered on Friday on the brink of a devastating split after malcontents announced they will boycott reconciliation talks and accused the party leader of being a dictator-in-the-making.
In a statement describing Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai as a ”dictator-in-the-making”, the party’s deputy secretary general, Gift Chimanikire, said Saturday’s reconciliation meeting has been convoked illegally.
”In yet another move to usurp and violate the constitution of the party, Tsvangirai has called a meeting of the national council for this Saturday,” said Chimanikire, who belongs to a faction that wants the party to contest controversial Senate elections in late November.
”He does not have the powers to unilaterally convene such a meeting,” Chimanikire said, urging ”all members of the national council, who seek to uphold and defend the MDC’s constitution, not to attend this meeting”.
Cracks in the opposition widened last month after 26 MDC members defied Tsvangirai’s call to boycott the elections to a new Upper House of Parliament that critics say is aimed at beefing up the ruling party’s stranglehold on the legislature.
Chimanikire, who until now apparently did not command with the party as much support as Tsvangirai, warned that if the MDC meeting takes place on Saturday, any resolutions from it will be null and void.
He alleged that Tsvangirai, a former trade unionist, has spent the past three weeks trying to bribe and coerce members of the party’s national council to reverse its decision on participating in the senate elections.
”Not only is Tsvangirai in flagrant breach of a constitution that he helped to formulate, he also stands accused of helping to construct a renewed web of violence and intimidation against party members, which is scarring our image as a party that protects and promotes human rights,” said Chimanikire.
”These are not the actions of a democrat; they are the actions of a dictator-in-the making,” said Chimanikire.
Divisions
Simmering divisions in the MDC became apparent two weeks ago when party leaders issued contradictory statements over the party’s participation in the Senate elections.
Tsvangirai, who has led the party since its formation in 1999, announced a boycott, but hours later party spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi said the MDC’s supreme decision-making organ had voted to take part in the elections.
William Bango, Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, said it is ”surprising” that Chimanikire ”had changed his mind” on attending the weekend meeting of the council.
”If there is a deadlock, an impasse, or a problem … it is his [Tsvangirai’s] duty not to let the party waste away and he can call the council to explain the difficulties,” said Bango.
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF holds 109 of the 150 parliamentary seats.
The MDC, which won nearly half of the contested parliamentary seats in the 2000 elections, decided to contest parliamentary elections earlier this year despite concerns they would not be fair. — Sapa-AFP