Zimbabwe’s veteran opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was on Sunday elected for a fresh tenure to lead his splintered party which has posed the most serious challenge to President Robert Mugabe’s long rule.
”The president has been nominated unopposed,” declared Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) national chairperson Isaac Matongo after a two-day convention in the capital attended by thousands of supporters.
Tsvangirai closed the convention lamenting deteriorating standards of living among the majority of Zimbabweans and pledging to ”lead from the front” in protests against Mugabe’s nearly 26-year rule.
”I promise to use all available resources and will power to see off the tyranny in Zimbabwe today,” Tsvangirai, wearing a light-blue ethnic design shirt and black trousers, said to rapturous applause from the crowd.
”We must resolve this national crisis. The dictator must brace himself for a long, bustling winter across the country. The bustle should lead us to a bright political season.”
”A storm is on the horizon.”
He did not say in what form and when the protests would take place but urged Zimbabweans to stock up provisions in anticipation of the protests.
Opening the two-day congress on Saturday, Tsvangirai urged Zimbabweans to brace for a series of ”peaceful, democratic resistance” protests against Mugabe’s nearly 26-year rule.
”I call upon you to heed calls … for a sustained cold season of peaceful democratic resistance,” he told 14 000 supporters gathered at a sports arena on the outskirts of Harare for a convention of an MDC faction.
He said the country’s electoral system and judiciary had failed the party, denying it clear victory in the 2000 parliamentary elections and a 2002 presidential poll.
”We need a short, sharp, programme of action to free ourselves,” said the former trade union leader who has led the MDC since its formation more than six years ago.
”If we should come out of our present crisis, the solution will not come from Europe or America. The solution is here in Zimbabwe. Only sustained efforts by all Zimbabweans will bring the desired results.”
The opposition faction said it would join forces with civic groups and other political groups and engage in anti-government protests.
The party pledged through its economic blueprint launched three years ago to address the mounting economic crisis afflicting the country.
Party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said the attendance was a vote of confidence in the party and Tsvangirai’s leadership.
Once posing the biggest challenge to Mugabe’s rule, the MDC split late last year over Tsvangirai’s decision to boycott senate elections and the gap between the rival camps shows no sign of being bridged.
Created in 1999 with former trade unionist Tsvangirai as its leader, the MDC made major gains in the 2000 parliamentary elections but lost ground in last year’s March elections that the party dismissed as a sham.
Tsvangirai sparked a rebellion within the party ranks in November when he decided to boycott the elections to a new senate arguing that the elections were a waste of money when the country was facing serious food shortages.
At least four million of the country’s population of 13-million will require food aid until the next harvest in May, according to aid agencies.
The congress came three weeks after a faction led by Tsvangirai’s deputy Gibson Sibanda held its own convention and elected student leader Arthur Mutambara as its leader. – Sapa-AFP