MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora’s manoeuvres to position himself as the main opposition leader suffered a double blow last week after the United States and the European Union (EU) signalled that they consider his ascendancy as lacking credibility.
Mwonzora took over from Thokozani Khupe as interim leader
of the MDC-T after the party’s chaotic extraordinary congress last December.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government regards Mwonzora
as the head of the official opposition ahead of MDC Alliance leader Nelson
Chamisa after a series of controversial court rulings that allowed the MDC-T to
elbow out their rivals from their offices and elected positions.
In a new report on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe,
the US said Mwonzora’s “minor” political party was the beneficiary of court
rulings that disfranchised voters.
“The High Court, in a series of decisions beginning in
March, paved the way for a minor political party, the MDC-T, to challenge the
leadership of the main opposition party, the MDC Alliance, ignoring earlier
jurisprudence that ruled that political parties, as private and voluntary
associations, should resolve their differences using internal remedies,” the US
report read in part.
“This decision disenfranchised voters by allowing the minor
political party to recall and replace elected MDC Alliance parliamentarians and
local councillors.
“In June police and military arrested some and blocked
other senior MDC Alliance officials from entering the party’s headquarters when
MDC-T party members broke into the building.”
The damning report was a blistering attack on Mnangagwa’s
human rights record with accusations that state security agents were being used
to target government critics for abductions and torture.
Mwonzora says he wants to introduce a new kind of politics
in Zimbabwe, which promotes dialogue and has been gravitating towards a working
relationship with Mnangagwa’s government.
Last week’s developments, however, pointed to lack of trust
by the international community with the EU delegation reportedly pointing out
to the MDC-T that it has questions about its status.
Mwonzora was told in no uncertain terms that his claim to
be the main opposition leader in Zimbabwe was dubious during a March 31 virtual
meeting with EU heads of mission, multiple sources that followed the
proceedings have told The Standard.
“The envoys told Mwonzora that they had challenges
recognising him as the face of the opposition because he did not participate in
the 2018 elections as a presidential candidate,” said the official, who
requested to remain anonymous.
“The two parties, however, agreed that broad-based dialogue
should include Chamisa. “It has been a long-held EU position that dialogue in
Zimbabwe be broad-based and includes the MDC Alliance.”
Mwonzora’s spokesperson Lloyd Damba, who described the
meeting with the EU as cordial, refused to comment about the allegations that
the envoys queried their claim to be the official opposition party.
Damba referred all questions to the EU. “We issued a
statement on our meeting with the EU,” he said. “If you have any doubts on what
transpired, did you make an effort to reach out to the EU?”
Timo Olkkonen, the EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, was not
available for comment yesterday as his mobile phone was unreachable.
Last week, Olkkonen only described the meeting as “an extensive and interesting discussion”. In March last year, Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) platform was told that the west had expressed reservations about supporting any dialogue platform that excluded Chamisa.
“Although they applaud and appreciate the great initiative
taken by His Excellency ED Mnangagwa and the political leaders that
participated as presidential candidates in the 2018 harmonised election, that
of coming together to establish Polad, they are all of the view that the
ongoing dialogue process should rather be broad-based, with key stakeholders
that include the MDC Alliance, civic society, religious groups, white
commercial farmers and business included,” Khupe, who represented Polad’s
international relations committee, said at the time.
“Both the US and EU ambassadors emphasised their desire to
have South Africa playing a leading role in the dialogue process with former
president Thabo Mbeki as the mediator.”
The MDC Alliance says the MDC-T is being used by Mnangagwa
to decimate the opposition and create a one-party state.
On the other hand, Mwonzora says he is the legitimate
successor to MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Standard
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