OPPOSITION MDC leader Nelson Chamisa and secretary-general
Douglas Mwonzora are engaged in a fresh fight that could determine the way the
party’s first elective congress following the death of founding leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, will be handled.
A constitutional amendment that gave Tsvangirai power to
appoint members who make it into the standing committee has come back to hound
the party with sources claiming that disagreements have emerged on which
positions should be contested at the congress. High-level sources this week
said the MDC was now grappling with the resolution amid indications it was
never co-opted into the constitution proper.
“Mwonzora is arguing all positions should be contested
while Chamisa wants to maintain the status quo. The secretary-general argued
that the 2014 resolution is not law, but part of rules that can be chopped and
changed before congress, depending on circumstances,” NewsDay heard from a member
of the MDC national standing committee.
In a bid to deal with what the party claimed were “two
centres of power between the president and secretary-general”, Tsvangirai, at
the close of the 2014 congress, pushed for changes to the party’s governance charter
centralising power in his office and stripping the then powerful
secretary-general of influence.
Described at the time as the “Zanufication of the MDC”, the
changes were used by Tsvangirai to elevate Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri into the
presidency as his two deputies, joining Thokozani Khupe, who had been elected
at congress.
Chamisa was still licking his wounds after a loss to
Mwonzora in the race for the coveted post of secretary-general.
The new secretary-general and Khupe were left seething with
anger, but the die had been cast. Sources said the party’s standing committee
would be the next battleground to determine how the congress will be run with a
draft template set to be debated.
“Today (yesterday), the standing committee will meet and debate
the draft rules for the congress that will come from the national organising
department. It is a template that would need to be endorsed by the national
council as well as congress. It is possible that all positions could be
elected,” another source said. “The most difficult decision is on how to deal
with the position of vice-president. We need to deal with how many will be
elected. As things stand, none among the presidency (Chamisa) vice-presidents
(Morgen Komichi, Welshman Ncube and Elias Mudzuri) are elected. The national
chairperson and her deputy were appointed. It’s a mess.”
Party spokesperson Jacob Mafume, while confirming that the
MDC standing committee was meeting, said he would give details after the
indaba.
“Yes, the standing committee will meet today. We will
consider the manner in which congress will be held. I, however, can’t give
details now,” he said.
Tsvangirai moved to centralise power in an effort to stem
the tide of consistent break-aways by party secretary-generals. It started with
Ncube in 2005 following disagreements over participation in senatorial elections
before Tendai Biti broke away from Tsvangirai in the aftermath of the 2013
electoral loss.
Both Biti and Ncube have since returned to the party now
under Chamisa. Newsday
Chamisa addresses question on “varied interpretations” about which posts are to be contested for at congress. He says the national council will decide at a meeting just before congress pic.twitter.com/i32oo9aZbi— Zim Media Review (@ZimMediaReview) March 6, 2019
0 comments:
Post a Comment