MORE than a month after Parliament directed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) factions to settle in court their dispute over which one of them is the legitimate party, none of the warring camps has taken up the advice.
In May, the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, advised both MDC-T factions, one led by Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured) and another by Tendai Biti to approach the bench in order to resolve their wrangling.
Following the suspension of Tsvangirai and five of his close lieutenants from the MDC-T in April, Biti had then written to Mudenda, advising him that only he had the mandate to write to recall from Parliament the so-called rebel legislators who are backing his renewal team.
The Tsvangirai camp, which in the aftermath of the suspensions subsequently retaliated by expelling Biti and his confidantes from the party, also wrote to Mudenda, with party vice president Thokozani Khupe, claiming their side was the legitimate one.
Mudenda responded to the two letters by directing the factions to take parliamentary matter to the courts as him and Senate President, Edna Madzongwe had no mandate in internal party issues.
Expectations had been that either of the two factions would consider seeking redress through the courts. But both seem to be developing cold feet, which means that none of them would seek to recall “rebel” legislators who won parliamentary seats on their claimed party ticket.
MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, told the Financial Gazette that his party would not be going to court but instead would, in the next few days, re-engage Mudenda in a fresh bid to have Members of Parliament (MPs) aligned to the breakaway faction recalled from the august House.
Mwonzora said it was obvious that the “rebels” had formed another party. “Tendai Biti and his friends confirmed that they have moved out of the MDC and are forming another party so what we would do in the next few days is write again to the Speaker of the National Assembly to have those MPs recalled. You have to appreciate the fact that these MPs are in Parliament on the MDC-T ticket, a party to which they no longer belong,” said Mwonzora.
“So the position is that we still have the right to recall those MPs by simply replying to the speaker supplying the names of all those we want recalled,” he said. MDC-T insiders, however, told the Financial Gazette that their party will not waste its time by writing to the Speaker as there were no justifiable grounds to do so. They said the party will now have to content with co-existing with the “rebel” lawmakers in the legislative assembly.
Although the renewal team has expressed disinterest in continuing to suffix the party name — MDC — with the letter T for Tsvangirai, it has insisted that it is not a new party.
Jacob Mafume, spokesperson of the renewal team, which has now rebranded itself as MDC-Team, rubbished Mwonzora’s claims saying they would not lose sleep over the issue. “They can write as many letters as they want to anyone they wish and see if they will succeed. We have suspended Tsvangirai and are proceeding to summon him and others to a hearing slated for June 18,” he said.
“We believe the idea of recalling legitimately elected MPs is petty, childish and a clear indication of lack of direction because they have not disagreed with the people who voted them into office, they have disagreed with you as an individual,” he added.
Mafume dismissed claims that Tsvangirai was the legitimate leader of the MDC on the basis that Biti announced that they would be forming a new party. He said they would contest any moves by the Tsvangirai camp to have parliamentarians aligned to their faction recalled.
“We have not formed and are not forming a new party. The leadership of the MDC-T is still being disputed,” Mafume said. The renewal team, which has stuck to its Mandel meeting resolution of suspending Tsvangirai and his close lieutenants, last week set a hearing date for the party president and insisted they would like him to appear before a disciplinary committee to answer to 17 charges. The charges include failure to adhere to the party constitution, among a host of others.
Both Mwonzora and Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, have since scoffed at the attempts by the Biti faction to haul the former trade unionist before a disciplinary hearing saying the embattled MDC-T leader would not attend it.
“How can Biti haul Tsvangirai before a disciplinary hearing when he is no longer part of the MDC? Biti and his renewal team were expelled from the party and they said they were going to form their own party. ..“We urge the renewal team to concentrate on their party and leave Tsvangirai alone. The president is seized with national issues and does not have time for such,” Tamborinyoka was quoted as having said in a local daily.
Divisions in the main opposition party started surfacing following its defeat in last year’s harmonised elections that saw ZANU-PF romping to victory. This ended a four year coalition government of MDC formations, one led by Morgan Tsvangirai and another by Welshman Ncube, and ZANU- PF which was formed following a bitter contestation for power that followed the disputed 2008 elections. Financial Gazette
