This notwithstanding, Mwonzora told the Daily News soon
after he ascended to the leadership of the country’s biggest opposition party
last week that he was still keen to talk to Nelson Chamisa and the leaders of
other opposition parties — as part of efforts to heal the debilitating
divisions that have severely weakened the country’s opposition.
This comes as the highly-regarded senator and lawyer has
also reiterated his willingness to pursue dialogue with President Emmerson
Mnangagwa and Zanu PF, with a view to improving the lives of long-suffering
Zimbabweans.
Mwonzora took over the leadership of the MDC last weekend,
following the party’s chaotic extra-ordinary congress (EOC) that was held in
Harare to choose a substantive successor to the movement’s much-loved founding
father, Morgan Tsvangirai.
“Yes … I am ready to work with Chamisa … I am ready to work
with anyone. But there is one fundamental issue.
“The fundamental issue is that our relationship must be
predicated upon certain values — constitutionalism, rule of law, mutual
respect, non-violence and so on.
“But there is a complicating factor, and that is the G40.
The G40 must just get out of the politics of the MDC,” Mwonzora told the Daily
News.
“I saw that as we were going towards our congress. Jonathan
Moyo was busy telling the MDC people not to vote for me and he is still trying
to influence the decision-making within the MDC Alliance.
“For example, there is a lady in Bulawayo … she was named
in some abduction. It was Jonathan Moyo who said she should be suspended and
she … was found not guilty by the internal tribunal.
“Jonathan insisted that she should be expelled and she was
expelled. So, we don’t want an opposition that is a puppet of a group of people
like G40.
“So, in my discussion with Chamisa, if we get to discuss it
at all, it will be an important matter to discuss,” Mwonzora further told the
Daily News.
“I don’t know whether they are prepared. I have respect for
them (MDC Alliance). I doubt whether they have respect for me … I think there
is no formula to engagement.
“I know for certain that there are members from the Chamisa
party who have approached us wanting to rejoin the party. We have said they are
free to rejoin the party.
“Chamisa is also free to rejoin the party. So, when it
comes to the issue of coming back to the party, the door is wide open and no
questions are going to be asked. But when it comes to MDC Alliance as a unit
and MDC … as a unit … it remains to be seen whether they are prepared for
that,” Mwonzora also said.
“We want to unite everyone starting with our own party. I
am happy that within a space of two days we have been able to re-unite our
group.
“It is a record time by all standards and I’m very, very
excited about that. Two days ago … Khupe and another set of leaders were saying
things that I did not agree with, and maybe vice versa. “Now, we are rightly
speaking the same language within a space of two days. That means that we have
the capacity to unite all our people,” Mwonzora further told the Daily News.
“We will be discussing with our brothers and sisters in the
other opposition parties, not for them to dissolve their parties, but for us to
start working together.
“We do that by making sure that we forge a respectful
relationship with them. Yes, we are a bigger party. I think we are the biggest
measured by the number of MPs that we have.
“We have some parties who are numerically smaller than us.
Those parties are also important because the wishes of the minority must also
be considered in a democracy,” Mwonzora added.
“So we will want to unite the opposition and we will play
our role to make sure that it is united. But as a matter of fact, it is not a
correct proposition that a party always wins if it is united.
“Zapu split into Zapu and Zanu and that splinter group went
on to form a government. “In 2005 (Welshman) Ncube split from the mainstream
MDC and three years later Tsvangirai got the biggest win of his career.
“We defeated Mugabe. We won the parliamentary majority and
local government. It is what the main party does that will determine things.
“I think that it is too early to write the obituary of the
opposition. We are capable of winning 2023,” Mwonzora said while recalling the
previous splits in the MDC.
This also comes as Mwonzora has said he would be pursuing a
different type of politics to end the country’s deep polarisation, which is
blamed for the toxic national political environment.
He said one of his immediate tasks was to have more
interactions with Mnangagwa and Zanu PF, apart from reaching out to other opposition groups in
the country.
“Of course, it (working with Zanu PF and other political
outfits) is the only sensible thing to do … We are already working with Zanu PF
in Parliament. We are also working with Zanu PF as we oversee its ministries.
“Working with Zanu PF is different from working for Zanu
PF. We want to establish a relationship that is respectful … business-like …
professional and that benefits Zimbabwean people.
“Zimbabweans don’t benefit from dysfunctional fights … but
we will take our responsibilities as the opposition and that is what we are
going to do,” the self-assured Mwonzora told the Daily News On Sunday.
“For us to get to a … GNU (new government of national
unity) somebody must initiate it and usually that is done by the party that is
ruling because the argument is that they are enjoying the mandate of the people
… and the second thing will be the terms of the GNU arrangement.
“We are not interested in window dressing arrangements, but
having said that, Zimbabweans did benefit tangibly from the GNU of 2009 to
2013,” he further told the Daily News.
“So, if that choice ever comes our way, we will weigh
whether it is in the best interest of the Zimbabwean people to do that.
“That would entail us going around the country hearing the
views of … people, and listening to the organs of our party … Zimbabweans have
always benefited from dialogue,” the Harare lawyer also said.
“In 1979, we ended … the liberation war with dialogue at
Lancaster House which brought independence … civil war, the genocide in
Matabeleland ended with the Unity Accord. That was dialogue.
“The 2008 and 2009 violence ended again with a discussion.
So, there is ample historic evidence that dialogue does work.
“We want to pursue dialogue. What it will culminate in is
another story. Sometimes it culminates in a GNU. Sometimes it culminates in an
arrangement different from a GNU.
“But as long as … that GNU is in the best interest of
Zimbabweans, it is welcome to us,” Mwonzora added. Daily News
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