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MDC advisor, Brian Raftopoulos, says internal divisions too deep to reconcile
Violet Gonda, SW Radio Africa
December 20, 2005

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news211205/raftopoulos211205.htm

A leading political commentator and one of the advisors for the MDC, Professor Brian Raftopoulos said the internal divisions are too deep to reconcile. He described the infighting in the country’s main opposition party as a major tragedy for them as a party and for the people of Zimbabwe as a whole.

The crisis-ridden opposition party is in the process of restructuring the party’s 12 provinces ahead of a National Congress scheduled for February. The restructuring was necessitated by a split in the party leadership over the recent senate elections and other procedural issues. It has now become a game of tug of war between the two camps in the troubled MDC as the pro-senate side is reportedly preparing to hold its own congress, a sign that neither side is recognising what the other is doing.

The dispute has had a devastating effect on the MDC's support base.

Professor Raftopoulos , who is one of the people who has been trying to bring the disputing camps together, said sadly as far as he knows, these efforts have been stopped. He said the divisions are now very deep, especially as both sides are heading for separate congresses. Raftopoulos said "I would like to reiterate that this is to the detriment of the MDC and for the people of Zimbabwe who have put so much faith in this party."

Despite the fact that the fighting is between people who have all devoted their lives to opposing the Mugabe regime, the leadership continues to make serious allegations against each other. This week party President Morgan Tsvangirai alleged that ZANU PF is plotting to assassinate him and conspiring with an MDC pro-senate faction. This was followed by counter accusations from "suspended officials" Trudy Stevenson and Paul Temba Nyathi saying the suspensions are not valid and alleged that their president is engaging in diversionary tactics to hide his failures as head of the opposition party.

Professor Raftopoulos said the assassination plot is a symptom of the distrust and bitterness that has grown out of this conflict. He believes both sides of the MDC are not going to come out of this of this well.

Asked whether these events signal the end of the party as a powerful force in Zimbabwe politics, Raftopoulos said the MDC is going to be grossly weakened. "I have heard the argument that this (infighting) may be a good thing because it would lead to a strengthened MDC; I don’t believe that personally. I think it is going to weaken the MDC nationally. And issues that should have been addressed; issues around accountability, the violence within the party, lack of co-ordination, lack of leadership – these issues are not going to be addressed. And I am afraid they are just going to be re-produced in any new formation that comes about".

The MDC advisor said the decision to go into the senate was a mistake which has resulted in the pro-senate camp losing a lot of political capital. "It’s a Cul de Sac. However the issues they raised with Mr Tsvangirai about accountability, about his so-called kitchen cabinet, about the violence within the party; these were genuine issues raised by the pro-senate faction and which were not seriously addressed by Mr Tsvangirai."

The infighting has left some asking if the MDC is capable of mobilising mass protest s. Raftopoulos said at the moment it looks very grim, and it looks like there is no real strategy around mobilisation. The infighting has drained the party and cost a lot in terms of capacity to mobilise. But for the foreseeable future I don’t see any drastic actions being taken."

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