Leader of Opposition in Parliament Thokozani Khupe has refused to vacate the position to pave way for MDC-T's newly elected president Douglas Mwonzora ,triggering a fresh row in Zimbabwe's second largest opposition political formation, insiders said this week.
A leader of Opposition in Parliament enjoys the same perks
as of a cabinet minister.
Last week, Business Times reported that top MDC-T
leaders—Mwonzora, deputy president Elias Mudzuri, Khupe (who was also appointed
deputy president but is yet to publicly accept that position) and the party's
national chairman, Morgan Komichi were supposed to meet—to fast track
Mwonzora's elevation as the official Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.
The meeting, however, did not take place after it emerged
that Khupe was adamant she would not let go her position in Parliament on a
silver platter. She is ready to fight, well-placed sources told Business Times.
The MDC-T leadership is now understood to be in sixes and
sevens after the latest development.
Well-placed sources within the party's leadership told
Business Times that situation was tense in the camp with Mwonzora and Khupe not
agreeing on the way forward over matter.
"Our party leaders are yet to agree on the position of
leader of opposition in Parliament," Witness Dube, MDC-T spokesperson told
Business Times.
"We were supposed to have a meeting last week as
leaders of the party and finalise the matter, but it did not happen.
"I understand our principal wants the matter to be
discussed together with the reappointment of Mudzuri as one of the vice
presidents and Komichi as the chairman of the party."
Komichi confirmed
that Khupe and Mwonzora were not singing from the same song sheet.
"Madam Khupe does not want to give away her post as
leader of opposition in Parliament arguing that there is need for proper
procedures to be followed and that she must be allowed to finish her tenure as
leader of opposition," Komichi told Business Times this week.
In December, Mwonzora defeated Khupe, Komichi and Mudzuri
for the top post at the party's Supreme Court sanctioned extraordinary congress
to replace the late Morgan Tsvangirai who died in 2018.
Khupe, however, dismissed Mwonzora's victory alleging that
the polls were marred by rigging and she would challenge the results.
Soon after being declared president of MDC-T, Mwonzora
appointed his fierce rival Khupe as the opposition party's vice president
together with Mudzuri. Komichi was also appointed as the party's national
chairman.
Mudzuri and Komichi accepted the appointments but,it is
unclear whether Khupe had accepted the new position.
She was unavailable for comment. Last week, Justice Affairs
minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told Business Times that government and ZANU-PF would
not interfere in the running and administration of the opposition party and was
ready to recognise Mwonzora as the leader of opposition in Parliament if the
party informs the government in writing.
"We know that they had Mudzuri as leader in the Senate
and Khupe in the lower house with Khupe being the senior leader. If they inform
us that Mwonzora is now their leader in Parliament, we will recognise
that," Ziyambi said. Business Times
0 comments:
Post a Comment