MDC officials, who were members of the party's national
council under the late Morgan Tsvangirai, are reportedly piling pressure on
acting MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe to hold a national council meeting so
they could use the event to scuttle her planned extraordinary congress (EOC).
Sesel Zvidzai, who was part of the national council as
Tsvangirai's chief-of-staff, said Khupe and acting secretary-general Douglas
Mwonzora were avoiding the all important national council meeting despite a
legitimate and constitutional demand for such.
"A petition was made in May 2020 by the national
council which was in office as at February 14, 2018 for a meeting of that party
organ and it is being avoided. Those who claim to be abiding by the constitution
are now denying organs of the party the rights provided to them by the
constitution," he said.
A total of 93 members of the national council signed a
petition demanding that members of the Tsvangirai-led MDC standing committee
present themselves before them.
"We, the undersigned individuals who were members of
the MDC-T national council as at February 14, 2018, having noted the Supreme
Court judgment in the matter Mashavire vs MDC-T and others and subsequent
events, acting in terms of article 6.4.2.6 of the MDC-T constitution as it was
on the same date, hereby petition for convening of a lawful meeting of the
national council as constituted on that date," the petition read.
The petition also
demanded that all members of the then national council, including the fired
Chalton Hwende, Nelson Chamisa, and those who left the party after February 14,
2018, be invited to attend the council meeting.
Mwonzora acknowledged receipt of the petition and said it
was discussed in the MDC-T standing committee, adding that the party leadership
was not in a hurry to hold the meeting.
"The attitude of the party leadership is that it is
not in a hurry to hold the national council meeting because we held a virtual
meeting of council recently and also because of the COVID-19 regulations. The
leadership will hold a meeting of the council as soon as conditions
permit," he said.
Another party official Jameson Timba said: "They are
afraid of the people. How do you talk of a standing committee that only has
three people out of the possible 15? The rest they now have are coopted, they
are just trying to run away from the organs of the party."
This came as insiders say members of the national council aligned
to Chamisa were plotting to use the meeting to veto the holding of the EOC and
put a stop to the Khupe leadership.
"Mwonzora knows this plan, so he is bidding his time
so that he meets with council members and win their hearts ahead of the
meeting, the delay is strategic to give them a counter," a source said. Newsday
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