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Can MDC survive leadership crisis?
Walter Marwizi , The Standard (Zimbabwe)
December 11, 2005

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/read.php?path=./news/2005/December/Sunday11/&st_id=633

FOR more than 20 years, former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi dominated the affairs of his country, despite mounting criticism to his rule. In fact, by the time the man bowed out of politics, it was generally agreed that he was one of the "The Big Men" of African politics who, apart from dictatorship, thrived because his opponents were deeply divided along ethnic lines.

A few years after Moi officially left the east African country's political landscape, the Kenyan scenario is becoming a reality in Zimbabwe where leaders of the main opposition have turned on each other, leaving President Robert Mugabe to entrench his grip on power. Fringe parties are also appearing on the political horizon.

The main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), once a cohesive body cutting across ethnicity, race and other differences, appears to have lost its focus.

Ethnic clashes and infighting, which had all along been rumoured, have crept into the open, tearing apart the party which offered so much hope to millions of Zimbabweans, desperate for change.

For MDC vice president Gibson Sibanda and other members of the pro- Senate faction, the greatest threat to democracy in Zimbabwe at the moment is not Mugabe but their own party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

They charge that Tsvangirai is a "dictator in the making" who unleashes violence on his opponents. On the other hand, the Tsvangirai camp accuses Sibanda and others of tribalism and of links to Zanu PF.

Only last week, Gift Chimanikire, the party's deputy secretary-general, unsuccessfully took the dispute to High Court where he sought an order to shut out Tsvangirai from Harvest House, the party's national head office in Harare's central business district. Court papers seen by The Standard show that the party is deeply engaged in the squabbles leaving no room for them to fight Zanu PF.

Even after the court battle - which left Chimanikire saddled with legal costs - both factions' energies will be directed towards the party's congress, where the decisive battle for the control of the MDC will be fought in February.

Insiders say it will take some months for Tsvangirai or whoever emerges the winner to bring unity and cohesion to a party that, three years ago, forced Mugabe to resort to violence and a chaotic land redistribution programme in order to remain in power. And like Moi, the veteran Zimbabwean leader is having the last laugh.

For the first time since MDC was formed six years ago, Mugabe can be assured of both the Christmas and New Year holidays free of political headaches.

At the Zanu PF conference in Umzingwane on Friday, an exuberant Mugabe told cheering supporters that the opposition no longer caused him any "stomach-aches and headaches".

"The party has disintegrated. It's now a complete wreck or wreckage if you want," he boasted.

Ironically, Tsvangirai, the man who has caused those difficulties for the 81- year-old President, will this time around, spend much of the festive season plotting the downfall of opponents who only four months ago shared the same table with him.

Tsvangirai, who is seeking a fresh mandate to lead the party for the next five years, is likely to be challenged by Chimanikire.

Apart from dealing with internal dissent, Tsvangirai will also have to work hard to restore the confidence of donors and diplomats who have supported the party over the years.

Information reaching The Standard indicates that key financial backers had been alarmed by the disclosure by St Mary's MP, Job Sikhala that party leaders were squabbling over US$ 2.5 million allegedly donated by Nigeria, Ghana and Taiwan. They summoned some party officials.

Although Sikhala made a u-turn and said he was out to test the gullibility of journalists from the State media, his pronouncements further damaged the opposition party, gripped by its worst crisis since its founding six years ago.

The Standard is informed that diplomats who had great sympathy for the party were clearly unimpressed and sought explanation from the MDC president, Tsvangirai.

A well-informed party official talked about a "diplomatic mess" at a time when the party was at its weakest point.

The official said: "One diplomat called Tsvangirai and said: 'If you people can squabble over US$2.5 million, what more if you are entrusted with the whole national fiscus?' Tsvangirai has been under pressure to write letters clearing the air. It's a diplomatic mess and I have no doubt it's now impossible for the party to get into West Africa."

While the party can easily regain the support of backers once they put their house in order, analysts say this bickering is an early Christmas present for Mugabe.

Churches, political analysts, diplomats and other people who had been trying to persuade Tsvangirai and the other members to a common ground, appear to have all but given up hope, leaving the opposition party hurtling towards a political precipice.

One of the mediators told The Standard "When professors, lawyers, teachers and respectable people reach a point where they shout names at each other in public like children, then you know Mugabe has achieved his goal."

But Tsvangirai differs: "If Robert Mugabe thought he had an early Christmas present in the form of a dead MDC, he shall now get a New Year wake up call. The MDC is emerging stronger after the events of the past two months."

As the circus in the MDC continues, a new political party, the United People's Movement is already on the horizon. Little is known about the party save for the fact that it is fronted by former information Minister Jonathan Moyo. It remains to be seen whether it's entry onto Zimbabwe's political landscape will shake the resolve by Mugabe to rule until 2008.

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