THINGS are moving from bad to worse for Nelson Chamisa and
his top MDC allies, after more party MPs defied his decree to withdraw their
services from Parliament, the Daily News reports.
This comes as political analysts have warned that the
charismatic politician’s directive was a “bad” and “irrational” call, which was
already backfiring spectacularly — contributing significantly to the threat
facing his political career.
After several legislators had earlier ignored Chamisa’s
directive to withdraw from Parliament in solidarity with four legislators who
were recently recalled from the august House, more lawmakers were in the
National Assembly yesterday, as the pressure mounts on the former MDC leader.
MPs David Tekeshe, Joice Makonya and Virginia Mafuta
attended the parliamentary portfolio committee on Agriculture which is chaired
by Zanu PF legislator for Gokwe Nembudziya, Justice Mayor Wadyajena.
This was after their colleagues Peter Moyo and Winnie Kankuni
similarly attended the parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Service,
Labour and Social Welfare earlier this week.
“I am happy that we have three MDC MPs who have attended
this committee despite reports of intimidation and threats on their lives.
“Some of them, who have failed to attend, have apologised.
We thank you guys,” Wadyajena said at the start of his committee’s meeting.
The MPs later told the Daily News that it would be a
“travesty of justice not to attend Parliament” when their constituencies
expected the legislators to represent them in the august House.
Tekeshe added that he had been “directed by people” in his
constituency to attend parliamentary business after he consulted them.
“I do not believe I am defying the party directive, but
that I am doing what the constituency has directed me to do. During this time of Covid-19, the people in my
constituency need me the most, and if I don’t come to these platforms they will
miss out on many things.
“People think that politics is about hatred and enmity, but
I think we need to unite,” Tekeshe said defiantly.
“I am not bothered if anyone recalls me because I am an
established businessperson. I did not join politics to become MP, but for the
people,” he told the Daily News.
Pressed to say if he still recognised Chamisa as his
leader, Tekeshe said the time was “not yet ripe” for him to declare his
allegiances.
“We will cross that bridge when we get to it. All I can say
is that in a democracy we have the right to make choices, and I made the choice
to come to Parliament today,” he said.
On her part, Mafuta said she had decided to defy Chamisa’s
directive after having allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of fellow MPs in
the party, who were accusing her of backing reinstated party secretary-general
Douglas Mwonzora.
“I was removed from the party’s WhatsApp group by Lilian
Timveos (who is among the MPs who have been recalled), who accused me of being
Mwonzora’s person.
“When I begged for re-admission to the group, I was told to
wait. I only got re-admission for a short time before I was removed again.
“From that point I realised that there was a bigger hand
behind all this. So at the moment, I am standing by the court judgment. That is
my position,” Mafuta told the Daily News.
Southerton MP Moyo has also questioned why Chamisa wanted
them to withdraw from Parliament for the sake of the four recalled MPs when he
had failed to do the same after he lost the 2018 presidential election.
“For the record, I voted for Chamisa and I will vote for
him again. But let us not use emotions here.
“The bigger question is why did we not boycott Parliament
when we said the presidential elections were rigged?
“Why should we now disengage from Parliament … simply
because four MPs have been recalled from Parliament?” Moyo said.
“The issue is that we are disputing the decision by the
party to tell us to disengage before they consult.“If they are saying MPs should disengage, everyone else
should disengage. A war is not fought in bits and pieces.
“I couldn’t miss the committee meeting because that meeting
was crucial, especially during this time of Covid-19 when people in our
constituencies are hungry.“We have people we lead who we should consult first.
Let us not put emotions everywhere,” Moyo further told the Daily News.
Chamisa and his lieutenants have appeared to be in disarray
ever since the Supreme Court delivered its ruling on the party’s leadership
ructions at the end of March.
The country’s highest court upheld last year’s ruling by
the High Court which said Chamisa’s ascendancy to the leadership of the MDC had
violated the main opposition party’s constitution.
In the unanimous judgment that was handed down by Supreme
Court judges Paddington Garwe, Bharat Patel and Antoinette Guvava, Chamisa’s
elevation to the MDC’s presidency was thus declared unconstitutional, and null
and void.
The ruling also automatically re-instated former MDC
secretary-general Mwonzora and ex-chairperson Morgen Komichi — who both lost
their positions at the party’s chaotic congress in Gweru last year — to their
previous positions.
And in addition to installing Thokozani Khupe as interim
party president, it also ordered her to convene an extraordinary MDC congress
to elect a new leadership within three months.
Last week, the Khupe group successfully recalled Chalton
Hwende (Kuwadzana), Tabitha Khumalo (MDC proportional representative), Prosper
Mutseyami (Dangamvura) and Midlands senator Lillian Timveos, from Parliament,
as it flexed its muscles and demonstrated that it is fully in charge of the
beleaguered party for now.
Meanwhile, political analysts said yesterday that Chamisa
was not likely to succeed with his decree that attempted to force MPs to
withdraw from Parliament.
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, Eldred
Masunungure, described the directive as “irrational” — adding that it could
lead to questions being asked about his leadership qualities.
“The decision (to ask MPs to withdraw from Parliament) will
undermine his credibility as a leader because he put the MPs in an invidious
position, where they have to make a difficult choice … given our political
economy where many of the MPs are not formally employed outside politics.
“The party should have considered the status of the MPs,
and also consulted them first before issuing the decree. Chamisa put the cart
before the horse,” he told the Daily News.
International Crisis Group senior consultant for southern
Africa, Piers Pigou, said the current imbroglio in the MDC was “predictable”.
“The politics of survival and opportunism abound, but more
than anything, this current situation reflects an opposition movement unwilling
and seemingly incapable to reconcile.
“Accusations of doing Zanu PF’s bidding are repeatedly …
made against detractors within the opposition. Certainly, the ruling party
appears to be the primary beneficiary of all this,” he said.
Another political analyst, Admire Mare, said Chamisa could
not do anything to stop the MPs from defying his directive given the poverty
that was gripping the majority of them.
“Whether there was consultation or not, this was bound to
happen because of bread and butter issues.
“Furthermore, most of these people have accrued a lot of
debts, including car loans from Parliament, which cannot be repaid outside the
MPs’ ticket,” he said.
The MDC has a total of 107 legislators who got
top-of-the-range vehicles, including Toyota Hiluxes worth between US$40 000 and
US$60 000 .
Under their parliamentary privilege, they are supposed to
pay for them through a stop order for a period of five years.
Besides their average monthly salary of between $6 000 and
$8 000, the MPs are entitled to $700 sitting allowances per session, fuel
coupons and lucrative foreign trips on parliamentary business.
The government emphasised last weekend that it would
withdraw all their benefits if they withdrew from Parliament. Daily News
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