Tsvangirai forms coalition, bypasses MDC-T structures

MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai flaunted his dictatorial tendencies once again and unilaterally decided to form a coalition with four minor opposition parties, shutting the door on Dr Joice Mujuru’s National People’s Party (NPP) with whom he recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

The Herald is reliably informed that Mr Tsvangirai’s dictatorial approach was threatening to split the opposition party after some senior officials within its ranks openly expressed their disgust with the manner in which Mr Tsvangirai was handling the whole coalition issue. The four

political parties that have agreed to work with the MDC-T are are MDC (Welshman Ncube), People’s Democratic Party (Tendai Biti), Transform Zimbabwe (Jacob Ngaruvhume) and Zanu-Ndonga.

A formal announcement on this development is likely to be made next Saturday.

The coalition to be named MDC-Alliance was announced by Mr Tsvangirai on Friday at his Highlands (Government) residence following an abortive national executive meeting at Harvest House.

Under the mooted alliance, Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC would field candidates in all the 13 Matabeleland South constituencies. Prof Ncube is likely to get another seat in Bulawayo.

Mr Biti’s PDP has been given four seats in Harare. The contentious issue, however, is that of the four one is Kuwadzana East where MDC-T vice president Nelson Chamisa is incumbent MP Mr Chamisa is reported to be fuming over the issue. Mr Biti will also get Harare East. Transform Zimbabwe and ZanuNdonga would get one constituency apiece with Ndonga earmarked for Chipinge South while MDC-T would have the pleasure of fielding candidates in 190 constituencies. It is understood that Mr Biti was bidding for 20 constituencies.

He is tipped to land the secretary general post in the proposed alliance.

Mr Tsvangirai’s decision, highly placed MDC-T sources say, shocked the party’s bigwigs.

“There was a meeting at the Government house where Mr Tsvangirai is staying on Friday where he announced that coalition talks with National People’s Party had collapsed and were not being pursued any longer and that MDC-T was instead proceeding to announce a coalition with lesser parties and that the announcement will be done on 5th August,” said a source.

“The parties are People’s Democratic Party, MDC, Zanu-Ndonga and Transform Zimbabwe and that out of that amalgam of those little parties would be created MDC-Alliance. Under that arrangement, Prof Ncube would raise candidates for all seats in Matabaleland South and maybe one in Bulawayo, PDP will be given four seats in Harare including Harare East and Kuwadzana East. Zanu-Ndonga will be given one seat in Chipinge and TZ would have one seat earmarked for it to contest.

“Mr Tsvangirai further announced that all candidates for Parliamentary seats would be nominated rather than emerging from primary contestations after consensual consultations between leaders of all parties. He (Mr Tsvangirai) said at the presidential level, parties in the alliance would converge on an MDC-T logo with his image which obviously means that he will be the sole candidate for the alliance to contest for presidency. MDC-T would raise candidates in 190 constituencies. He added that individual parties will contest using their own logos and will only use the MDC-T logo on the presidential candidate.

“More or less about the same time, Joice Mujuru was still harping about the coalition talks which means that she may not have been alive to the MDC-T’s decision. What is more interesting is that the MDC-T hierarchy was not aware of this decision which triggered a very negative reaction principally from MDC-T vice presidents Thokozani Khupe, Nelson Chamisa and Engineer Mudzuri. Ms Khupe in contesting this unilateral decision warned that the parties that would have won constituencies in their names would grow big headed to a point of refusing to submit to the alliance, which is to say the result will create a momentum of its own in a way that would wreck the alliance.

“In her view, the formula of building the alliance which ran short of absorption of smaller parties by MDC-T was inherently self destabilising.

“She also did not understand let alone appreciate why Welshman Ncube was being given a whole province to himself namely Matabeleland South and that the constituency reward for Welshman far exceeded his weight electorally as if to imply that he was being prepared for a higher post in the alliance.

Ms Khupe who has a long standing tussle with Prof Ncube in Matabeleland was riled by this extraordinary recognition of the MDC leader, especially as they come on the backdrop of media reports that Mr Tsvangirai was considering upgrading him to the level of his deputy”

Another source privy to the goings on in MDC-T said Eng Mudzuri and Mr Chamisa were equally puzzled by Mr Tsvangirai’s decision.

The source said: “Eng Mudzuri and Mr Chamisa openly grumbled with Mr Chamisa arguing that it was inconceivable for the MDC-T leader to decide on and make such a major announcement without consulting the MDC-T structures and what is more to do such a momentous announcement from his home.

“He added that should Mr Tsvangirai press on with this decision that would be the end of his presidency as he will be resisted across the country. In response, a defiant Tsvangirai said all those who did not agree with the announcement and the arrangement underpinning the alliance were free to leave the party, form their own and become presidents of those parties. Interestingly in Bulawayo Mr Gorden Moyo more or less about the same time unveiled former MDC-T senator Martson Hlalo as Makokoba candidate.

“It remains to be seen if this announcement had the blessing of Mr Biti in which case would mean he is still pressing for the 20 seats or that Gorden Moyo is defying the PDP leader who by the way has been tipped to become the secretary-general of the alliance.

“Equally, the fact of giving Kuwadza East to PDP politically orphans Mr Chamisa who now has to find a new home.”

A political analyst who spoke to The Herald last night said this new development brings to the fore a number of political scenarios.

“The first one is a case where the MDC-T suffers a further split, two — a situation of a disgruntled but seemingly quiescent hierarchy within the MDC-T and below Tsvangirai in which case there will be lots of electoral backstabbing in a way detrimental to MDC-T’s overall showing,” said the analyst.

“Three, a scenario where all the parties to the alliance tactically suffer one another, with the lesser parties using MDC-T as a Trojan Horse. The fourth outcome is that in the best of circumstances we are likely to see Zanu-PF facing two weak alliances between which is no love lost. There is Coalition of Democrats (Code) and National Reform Agenda (Nera) now rechristened MDC-Alliance.

“However, all these scenarios will play out, one thing is very clear, young politicians in the opposition who have been unable to persuade or compel Tsvangirai to let go, both on account of ill health and on account of past poor showing, now view his inevitable defeat by the Zanu-PF Presidential candidate not as a problem but as a solution to a leadership crisis in their camp.”

PDP spokesperson Mr Jacob Mafume yesterday confirmed that they had opened formal negotiations with MDC-T and other parties.

“We have opened negotiations with MDC-T and Mujuru’s party,” he said.

“We are also in Code and Nera. Our president has been negotiating with MDC-T and a number of proposals have been put on the table”.

Neither Mr Chamisa nor his fellow MDC-T deputies and spokesperson Mr Gutu could be reached for a comment.