THE MDC faction led by Thokozani Khupe yesterday held its
first meeting at the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House (formerly Harvest House),
two weeks after seizing control of the building from rivals with the help of
the army and police and resolved to recall more defiant legislators and
councillors
The building, seen as the citadel of opposition politics,
is largely symbolic and was named after the party’s late founding leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, who died in February 2018.
Nelson Chamisa’s MDC Alliance occupied the building until
June 5 before being muscled out by armed soldiers and police on behalf of
Khupe. Chamisa’s allies led by party vice-president and former Finance minister
Tendai Biti were arrested after they attempted to reclaim the premises.
They were, however, later released on $1 000 bail each. Divisions
in the opposition MDC have widened since March 30 when the Supreme Court ruled
that Chamisa’s appointment as party deputy president by Tsvangirai in 2016 and
his rise to the
presidency, was unconstitutional. The court appointed
Khupe, who was heading another faction, to lead the party in the interim.
Chamisa’s camp has challenged the takeover of the building and the matter was
set before High Court judge Justice David Mangota at the weekend. Justice
Mangota is still to hand down his judgment.
Douglas Mwonzora, who was elected to the Senate under the
MDC Alliance ticket, but claims to have reverted to the post of party
secretary-general which he held until he lost elections at the congress last
year, said his faction was prepared to defend its violent occupation of the
building.
“We saw in the court some people claiming that Harvest
House belonged to them. We reiterate that it belongs to the MDC. As a party, we
will do everything that is in our power to safeguard our property, it is not a
private property owned by the company,” he said.
Mwonzora said they had resolved to recall MDC Alliance
councillors and MPs who have stopped representing them in Parliament despite
Khupe’s faction failing to win any seats in the 2018 general election. It has
two proportional representatives in Parliament, but claims the court ruling
gave it control of legislators belonging to the rival camp.
“We discussed the issues of recalls of councillors as well
as MPs who have joined other political parties,” Mwonzora said.
“We are going to proceed with these, but we will deal with
them on a case-by-case basis. We have said and maintained that we are not
vindictive; we are not there to cause misery to people.
“We are there to safeguard the interests of members of the
MDC. So those who have joined other political parties cannot continue to
represent our members in Parliament.”
Already, Mwonzora has recalled four MDC Alliance
legislators who have since approached the courts, seeking to reverse the
recalls. The courts gave relief to the MDC Alliance after granting an interim
order that the MDC-T cannot replace the recalled MPs. The case is still pending
at the courts.
Mwonzora said while the matters are being settled in court,
his party will continue to recall more MDC Alliance MPs.
“The High Court ruled that we can continue with our
recalls. In other words, the interdict that sought to stop us from recalling
was dismissed by Justice Tawanda Chitapi,” Mwonzora said.
“The other judgment to say we cannot replace Members of
Parliament even as we face the expiration of the mandatory 90 days, we have
appealed against that judgment. The effect of the appeal is to suspend the
decision appealed against and, therefore, as things stand, nothing stops us
from recalling our MPs and replacing them. We will exercise that lawful
option.”
But MDC Alliance presidential affairs secretary Jameson
Timba said Mwonzora was day-dreaming.
“Nobody other than the MDC Alliance has the lawful
authority to recall MPs and councillors,” Timba said. “We will take all the
necessary steps to protect the people’s project.”
Khupe also made new appointments which saw Manase
Tsvangirai being appointed secretary for elections and Shakespear Mukoyi being
elevated to youth leader.
Former MDC-T vice-president Elias Mudzuri was appointed
deputy chairman while Gift Chimanikire now holds the deputy organising
secretary post.
Khupe’s spokesperson Khalipani Phugeni takes over as deputy
spokesperson of the party while Chief Ndlovu was appointed deputy
treasurer-general.
Mwonzora also indicated that there was a decision to be
taken on the women’s assembly leadership post, which was held by Lynnette
Karenyi-Kore in 2014.
Karenyi-Kore is now one of the three MDC Alliance
vice-presidents. There was no mention of who will hold the position of
treasurer-general, a position which was occupied by Theresa Makone.
Addressing the same conference, Khupe announced her comeback,
saying she was stirring the ship back to its founding values as a labour-backed
party. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment