The MDC-Alliance national executive was last night left
divided over the inclusion of a woman vice president as bickering continues to
rock the opposition party ahead of its congress next month. There was heated
debate on whether the party should earmark a woman as one of the vice
presidents in line with international trends of upholding the women’s quota or
that they should contest on an equal footing with their male counterparts.
So divided was the national executive that the issue was
deferred for deliberation by the national council which is set to sit today.
At present the party has three vice presidents, namely
Professor Welshman Ncube, Mr Morgen Komichi and Engineer Elias Mudzuri
At least four women have been nominated to contest the post
of vice president during the provincial congresses but were selected to run
alongside their male counterparts.
The four are Mrs Lillian Timveous, Mrs Lynette
Karenyi-Kakore, Ms Paurina Mpariwa and Mrs Theresa Makone who were nominated to
contest alongside Messrs Tendai Biti, Murisi Zwizwai, Komichi and Prof Ncube.
A source who attended yesterday’s meeting that took more
than five hours said there was a heated debate on how to handle the issue.
“Some people argued that we should respect the party and
national constitution that provides for gender parity. They said at least one
of the VPs should be a woman. One of those who argued for a female VP was the
secretary-general, Mr Douglas Mwonzora.
“But others shot down the proposal arguing that it was
untenable to introduce new rules when the election process was getting to its
tail end. Those who opposed the idea on that basis included Prof Ncube, Biti
and Komichi,” said a highly placed source.
“President Nelson Chamisa was caught in between but from
the look of it, he will be compelled to observe the party’s constitution. But
at the end of the day the issue was deferred for further debate by the national
council that is meeting tomorrow.”
When contacted, party spokesperson Mr Jacob Mafume said the
party was aware of its obligation to ensure gender parity but did not say how
the issue was resolved.
“The issue of gender representation is in our constitution.
It is an aspiration that we should have a 50-50 representation. Our members are
clear on that and our constitution is clear on that. We will aspire to have it
in terms of the constitutional provision,” said Mr Mafume.
Preparations for the congress have been characterised by
bickering and accusations of vote fraud and manipulation. Herald
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