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Allies dump MDC
Njabulo Ncube, Financial Gazette
September 20, 2007

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THE fractious Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is battling new internal fissures over an agreement it reached with the ruling party this week to tinker with the country's Constitution for the umpteenth time, which has shaken its alliance with key civil society allies.

Influential civil society groups that had formed a formidable alliance with the MDC yesterday said they were breaking ranks with the main opposition party following its endorsement of controversial constitutional amendments, which consolidate the electoral calendar and allow President Robert Mugabe to handpick a successor.

The severance of ties between the MDC and a coterie of civic groups could further dilute the opposition, which will face ZANU PF in next year's polls weakened by the October 2005 split.

But their surprise withdrawal from the loose coalition may not have any effect on the MDC, which has basically been riding on public anger against the economic meltdown precipitated by the ruling ZANU PF government's ruinous policies, analysts say.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) -- the two groups that were key at the time of the formation of the MDC in 1999 and had remained its staunch allies -- yesterday led groupings such as Crisis Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) and the Broad Alliance in condemning the constitutional deal struck between ZANU PF and both factions of the MDC.

The compromise deal paves the way for joint presidential and legislative elections next year, empowers parliament to elect a new president should the incumbent fail to serve a full term and substantially increases the number of seats in the House of Assembly, among other things.

The Financial Gazette can reveal that there are moves to form what is being touted as a "Third Force", after civic society representatives yesterday held crisis meetings in the wake of the MDC's endorsement of the amendments, described by critics as too insignificant to dilute President Mugabe's powers.

The Broad Alliance, a coalition of opposition groups previously supportive of the MDC, will soon announce its severance of ties with both factions of the MDC.

The MDC threw its weight behind Constitutional Amendment Number 18, saying it had been driven by the spirit of ongoing Southern African Development Community (SADC) efforts to break the political impasse in Zimbabwe.

Thokozani Khupe, MDC vice president of the Morgan Tsvangirai camp, said her party had resolved to back the amendments as it kept an eye on protecting a SADC mediation process led by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

"We supported the Bill because we do not want to see Zimbabwe burning," said Khupe in an interview with The Financial Gazette soon after a second reading of the Bill. "It does not mean we have abandoned our demand for a new, people-driven Constitution. It is our understanding that it (new Constitution) will be delivered in due course."

On Tuesday, Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of the Arthur Mutambara faction of the MDC, sensing apprehension among opposition supporters, said while some of them would be "alarmed" by the MDC's decision, the party had not abandoned its stance on constitutional reforms.

But he suggested it was important to allow some compromise as part of the process of finding a solution.

"Zimbabweans are faced with a national crisis. We may differ, but we agree there is a crisis. Somewhere along the way we lost each other. This is our attempt to find each other."

Ncube, part of the opposition's negotiating team, hinted that talks would now focus on repressive laws such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the Public Order and Security Act.

Sanctions, he said, were also on the agenda. There is no agreement yet on these issues.

But Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the NCA, which campaigns for wholesale constitutional reform, said civic society had called a conference to reject the MDC/ZANU PF deal.

"We are disgusted by the MDC," said Madhuku. "I don't see myself sitting under the same tent with both Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara discussing the future of this country. We are severing ties with the MDC over their going to bed with ZANU PF."

Madhuku led a civic society delegation to Pretoria this week at the invitation of President Mbeki's mediation team.

According to sources, Sydney Mufamadi, head of Mbeki's mediation team, told the group he had only called the meeting to inform them that ZANU PF and the MDC had reached agreement.

Arnold Tsunga, chairman of the CZC and executive director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said the MDC had "sold out".

"We think the MDC has sold out, and it will be very difficult to work with them in future, taking into perspective the minor adjustment they and ZANU PF have agreed to," said Tsunga. "We as CZC and other civic society organisations are worried by attempts to identify Zimbabwe's problems as an issue that can be resolved by drafting constitutional amendments," he added.

The MDC and ZANU PF, he said, had only "tinkered with the Constitution, without addressing the climate of impunity, violence, repressive pieces of legislation, national misappropriation of resources, looting, harassment of citizens and other human rights abuses."

The NCA, founded in 1997, has been an ally of the MDC since the party's 1999 formation. In 2000, the NCA teamed up with the MDC and successfully mobilised against a new government-backed Constitution.

"The MDC's decision to abandon the principle of a people-driven Constitution and opting for a process driven by political parties in Parliament is an act of treachery," said Madhuku.

Tsunga said it was "disheartening and shocking to see MDC celebrating with ZANU PF" on the same day state security agents abducted scores of ZCTU leaders who were planning a strike yesterday.

The strike flopped, bolstering the argument of those who have called for a change of strategy by militant opposition groups such as unions and the NCA.

Reacting to the criticism, Nelson Chamisa and Gabriel Chaibva, spokespersons for the two MDC factions, said supporting the amendments was in the best interests of the opposition.

MDC allies have found support among new camps in the opposition that have been isolated by the compromise, with hardliners outraged by the ZANU PF/MDC calling for a more militant approach.

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