Zimbabwe elections date set for July 31, 2013. President Mugabe in his capacity as head of state established the date., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Tsvangirai must go chorus intensifies
September 14, 2013
Felex Share Herald Reporter
The MDC-T, which is smarting from the heavy drubbing inflicted by Zanu-PF in the harmonised elections, today celebrates its 14th anniversary in Mutare amid growing calls for the ouster of party leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai for failing to steer the Western sponsored movement to victory.
Mr Tsvangirai has in the last 15 years failed to lead his party to election victory, with his recent attempt ending in massive humiliation.
The celebrations are slated for Sakubva Stadium in Mutare and political observers yesterday said there was nothing for the party to celebrate, barely two months after the crushing defeat.
Senior party officials, the party’s traditional allies, including the West and their media, are baying for Mr Tsvangirai’s blood. MDC-T handlers, including the Western media have called for the ouster of the party’s leader with the latest call for leadership renewal coming from self-exiled MDC-T treasurer general Mr Roy Bennett, who said it was time the party looked for a leadership that respected the will of the supporters.
This comes amid reports that Mr Tsvangirai, whose third term ends in 2016, wants to stay as MDC-T president for a fourth term in a row, shutting out some contenders, among them his secretary general Mr Tendai Biti.
Mr Tsvangirai once amended the party’s constitution, which limited a leader to only two terms in a bid to remain at the helm of the party, a move that left other senior party officials disgruntled.
Mr Bennett, who has set base in South Africa and acts as MDC-T’s donor point man, was speaking in an interview with Business Day this week.
He said: “Mr Tsvangirai has served two terms and is nearly completing a third. Deep introspection needs to be undertaken by our national collective leadership, not for purposes of looking for scapegoats, but for our party to reinvigorate its leadership with a leadership which reflects the will of our people.”
Mr Bennett said Mr Tsvangirai did not want the will of the people to prevail by refusing to step down despite being whitewashed by President Mugabe three times in a row since the launch of the party in 1999.
However, MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora, yesterday said Mr Tsvangirai would not go anywhere because he had an “important task of reorganising, restructuring and re-strategising” the fragmented party.
“If it is his individual opinion, then it has been overtaken by events. The national council and the national executive have already dealt with issues of leadership,” he said.
“They are behind president Tsvangirai and any leadership challenges, by anyone willing and feeling able will be dealt with at the Congress in 2016.”
This is not the first time Mr Bennett has broken ranks with the MDC-T. Just after the July 31 harmonised elections, he threatened to dump the party accusing his colleagues of penchant for corruption saying they wanted to milk councils by seeking mayoral positions and getting into Parliament to propagate selfish interests.
President Mugabe handed Mr Tsvangirai a crushing defeat in the polls garnering 61,09 percent of the votes to the MDC-T leader’s 33,94 percent.
The British media, particularly the Telegraph and the BBC has also torn into Mr Tsvangirai, urging him to resign as he had failed as a politician.
The Telegraph, which is one of the largest circulating newspapers in the United Kingdom and a strong supporter of the MDC-T, said Mr Tsvangirai’s short stint in Government had exposed his immeasurable shortcomings as a leader while the BBC said the MDC-T leader now stared political oblivion.
Observers yesterday said instead of celebrating defeat, the MDC-T should be working towards reinvigorating the party by showing Mr Tsvangirai the exit.
Political analyst, Mr Alexander Rusero, said there was no use in MDC-T keeping a failed leader.
“The nature of politics is to score goals and winning elections and Tsvangirai has failed to do that and should pave way for others,” he said.
“The reason why President Mugabe is remaining in power is because he is delivering victory and the honourable thing for Mr Tsvangirai to do is to step down. Why does he not demonstrate what he always preaches about by stepping down?.”
Mr Rusero said the MDC-T top brass had realised that they could not continue recycling a leadership that had failed its supporters.
“The calls for change are coming from Bennett, a key player in the MDC-T and they should not be taken lightly. He might be speaking as a frustrated self exiled individual, one who has nostalgia to return to Zimbabwe as he hoped that change would come, but the reality is that he is speaking his heart out.”
Bindura University of Science Education lecturer Mr Bowden Mbanje, said calls for Mr Tsvangirai’s resignation were long overdue.
“His ally Christopher Dell once said it. He does not have the leadership qualities and his traits are weak,” he said.
“If you are to remain strong in politics, you should have a philosopher king, one with a scope that is ahead of his followers. It is now evident that he was an opportunist from the time he was ZCTU secretary general. If they are to survive as a party they need someone with a vision.”
Mr Dell, a former US ambassador to Zimbabwe once said Mr Tsvangirai had questionable leadership qualities. Mr Dell, in the WikiLeaks reports, said Mr Tsvangirai needed “someone to handle his hand in the same fashion blinds are led by those who can see well. So how can Zimbabweans entrust such an icon of confusion to lead them?”
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe, Mr Tsvangira’s long time ally, said there was nothing the MDC-T leader could do as he was facing “Africa’s best” in the elections.
“It’s not about leadership renewal, the guys are simply competing against Africa’s best in (President) Mugabe,” he said.
“But people also expect results and if people want to continue with him and get defeated again and again it is up to them.”
Midlands State University lecturer Mr Christopher Gwatidzo, said the party should simply disband and begin pulling in the same direction with Zanu-PF.
“The best thing to do is for them is to disband and offer themselves as prodigal sons and daughters,” he said.
“For them to remain relevant people, they must move with the rest of the people, fight in defence of the national interest and advance development just as Zanu-PF stands for.
There is indication, from what they are doing that they are not a serious political party.”
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