David Tinashe Hofisi: "A press conference in which political leaders take centre stage and announce that citizens will be at the center seems both ironic and counter-intuitive. This is made worse by the impression that the new party is modeled singularly around the person of Nelson Chamisa and his social media hashtags."
By David Tinashe Hofisi
The Supreme Court ruling on the MDC leadership wrangle sparked a national debate on parties, constitutions and congresses. This post adds to that debate by answering ten (10) questions which assess the significance of the various formations of the MDC.
By David Tinashe Hofisi
The High Court sitting at Harare dealt a body-blow to Nelson Chamisa’s leadership of the MDC on 8 May 2019. In the case of Elias Mashavira vs. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Five Others HH 302/19, Justice Edith Mushore ruled that Chamisa’s ascension to the positions of Deputy President, Acting President and substantive President were contrary to the MDC Constitution. Criticism of the judgment has been as swift as it has been acerbic.
The MDC claimed the ruling is part of the “machinations and strategies...deployed by the Mnangagwa administration to destabilize and destroy the people’s project.” UK based scholar Alex Magaisa termed the judgement an “embarrassment to the legal and political system,” whilst MDC member and lawyer David Coltart called it a “desperate and pathetic move.”
This is at odds with other commentators, most prominently scholar Derek Matyszak, who pointed out Chamisa’s questionable rise to the party presidency ahead of the court’s findings. In assessing these opposing views, I am convinced that it is the populist-driven nature of the MDC which makes its supporters oblivious to the legal consequences of its constitutional misfeasance.
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