MDC ALLIANCE
president Nelson Chamisa's secret deals with the party's secretary-general
Douglas Mwonzora and one of his vice presidents Elias Mudzuri on the hand so
that both do not contest him for the presidency at their next congress has been
received with mixed views.
The deals are such that Chamisa will guarantee Mudzuri
retains his vice president's post and Mwonzora settles for the
secretary-general post with both rallying behind him.
Both Mudzuri and Mwonzora were potential challengers who
may have given in because of a possible backlash from some of Chamisa's
militant lieutenants.
Some political and social analysts said they supported
Chamisa's move saying even in established democracies, political negotiation is
an established concept employed to reach a political agreement.
They said by negotiating with the two, Chamisa is showing
magnanimity and leadership rather than zero sum politics.
Others are, however, of the opinion that while this
negotiation would signify a maturing democracy in the MDC Alliance; it was made
for the image built of an invincible Chamisa whose legitimacy would have been
severely damaged.
They said the fact that there were incidences of
intra-party violence means there are unresolved internal issues that the
movement must find time to reflect upon and become a united, well-coordinated
political party that can mount a serious intellectual and social-economic
alternative to Zanu-PF.
They added that true leadership should pass through the
test of popularity and ideas, not coercion as have been alleged by some of the
MDC Alliance officials.
Political analyst MacDonald Lewanika, while he is not sure
of the credibility of these backroom deals, he believes it is not a bad thing
afterall.
"Democracy is not just about contest it is also about
comprise and accommodation, and carrying everyone along. This way the MDC
preserves its best and brightest in leadership after all leadership is not
about positions it is about the disposition of leadership and real leaders can
lead from anywhere. At least this way the MDC will have sound leadership at
different levels."
Journalist Stanley Kwenda said while there's no doubt that
Chamisa is the most popular of the three candidates, for the sake of the party,
it was a good move for the three to negotiate.
"At the end of the day this will avoid the splits we
have seen in the past. Even the two men know that Chamisa has the momentum, so
I wouldn't say they were dribbled but rather they took a decision in the best
interest of their party.
"In the end it's the party that wins and the millions
of people who voted Chamisa in the last election.
The sooner they get this congress out of the way the better
because they have other important issues to do with such as electoral reforms.
2023 is not that far, they can't afford to waste more time," said Kwenda.
Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said Chamisa is doing
well, trying to unite the party ahead of this congress that can leave the party
more divided than united.
"He is demonstrating political maturity by not seeking
vindictiveness and total destruction of his party adversaries post- congress.
He is rising above the misguided elements in his party who saw the death of
Mudzuri and Mwonzora's careers post congress. He is being a leader.
"Democracy is not only about contested polls but it can also be negotiated
freely and fairly and win-win outcomes realised. He is doing right. This is
what Morgan Tsvangirai would have done," said Saungweme.
Social analyst Rashweat Mukundu said politics is not only
about contest but negotiation and alliances and both Mudzuri and Mwonzora
realise that they are no match for Chamisa judging by the on-going nominations.
"It is however in Chamisa's interest that the two remain in the MDC and
that fractions are limited as much as possible; this is part of building a
stronger MDC."
Social analyst Precious Shumba however, believes
negotiations by their very nature are a compromise on principles, values and
beliefs.
"They always come after a protracted contest for
supremacy, and when you see protagonists negotiating and sharing positions and
promising each other certain things, it means that the democracy has been
compromised to the extent that it becomes an elite pact to be on the feeding
trough.
"Power by all means necessary is a major worry in
African politics, and the MDC Alliance should be the leading light in promoting
democracy that promotes freedom of choice, right to contest for its membership,
and guarantee freedom after speech."
He said the MDC are called the movement for democratic
change, meaning they are a mass-driven social political movement that is
inspired by democratic values and principles in their conduct as an
organisation and the officials have to be demonstrating their democratic
credentials.
"If however, the negotiations took place at the
instigation of their different sets of followers, it means that the MDC
Alliance leadership of Mwonzora, Chamisa and Mudzuri timely responded to an
expressed need for compromise to maintain the party's unity.
There is apparent intolerance in the rank and file of the
followers as shown in the different reports of violence against perceived
enemies of their respective leaders.
"In politics, there are vested interests to pursue and
protect, and I am certain that Chamisa was the one who was under more pressure
to be uncontested at their congress because if he was going to be contested by
Mwonzora or Mudzuri, it would have meant that a significant portion of the MDC
Alliance base has divided loyalty," said Shumba.
He added that because if they went in to July 2018
elections with him as their candidate, and at their first congress following
their founder's death, the expectation would have been for more candidates
coming forward to express their interest in the Presidency of their Party,
without anyone being seen to be victimised for expressing a mere desire to lead
the movement.
Shumba said it would have been more democratic if Chamisa
did not attend the provincial congresses when he was an interested party.
"The principle of democracy should be anchored on the
right of individuals to make informed choices on their leadership without
apparent coercion in the form of raising hands as a way of voting. The vote
should remain a secret and that way we are able to evaluate one's real and
genuine support.
"Secondly, if it were possible to invite nominations
from the floor during the congress, with no threats to life, democracy in the
movement would have come out of age. As it stands, there is possibility that
the negotiations were simply done to silence Mwonzora and Mudzuri, while
designed to guarantee Chamisa an uncontested position at Congress, thereby
maintaining a fallacy of invincibility.
That is a danger to both the movement and democracy as a
concept of transparency and accountability."
Shumba said his view is that the negotiations are a process
of making sure that Chamisa is thought to represent in full all MDC Alliance
followers without allowing that hypothesis to pass the test of democracy.
"My expectation was that since the MDC Alliance is
always very critical of Zanu-PF, they would invite such electoral bodies like
the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and the Election Resource Centre and
their close ally Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to conduct their elections
in a free and fair manner to demonstrate what they really desire for Zimbabwe
so that we all appreciate what we are missing as citizens without them as the
ruling party.
"In another view, Mwonzora and Mudzuri are being saved
from their political dustbin.
The negotiations may be seen as a way of saving their
positions from being taken by other party officials who have been nominated to
those positions. Because if they do not manage to hold any position of
leadership, they will be forgotten outside the movement and will find it
difficult to mount a formidable comeback," said Shumba.
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