'Target Mugabe, not Tsvangirai,' Nyathi tells supporters

'Target Mugabe, not Tsvangirai,' Nyathi tells supporters

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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Thursday sent out a defiant message over calls for its leader Morgan Tsvangirai to resign.

Party chiefs are furious over a whispering campaign from despondent supporters who feel the party is not gaining any ground on President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF after the March 31 elections in which the party lost heavily.

In a radio interview with Afro Sounds FM on Thursday night, party spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi sought to rally the party faithful, telling them: "Mugabe is the enemy not Tsvangirai."

Nyathi also shot down growing speculation that the MDC national congress set for August this year could be Tsvangirai's 'Ides of March'.

He said: "Congresses are about dealing with the business of the party. They are not about changing leadership.

"I look forward to the congress because that's where we get the chance to discuss strategies and what we want to do when we get into power. Leadership is just but one item on the agenda."

Tsvangirai, a former trade unionist, has led the MDC since its inception in September 1999. The MDC significantly reduced Zanu PF's overwhelming majority in parliament in 2000 when it claimed 57 seats out of the 120 contested.

However, the party suffered a reversal in parliamentary elections last month when its gains were reduced to 41 seats amid claims of rampant vote rigging by Mugabe's Zanu PF.

Said Nyathi: "There are 120 MDC candidates who stood in the last election, and Tsvangirai didn't stand. This idea that Tsvangirai has lost an election or that to get rid of Zanu PF and Mugabe, Tsvangirai should be targeted, I feel it is energy wasted."

Meanwhile Tsvangirai was in Gwanda on Thursday and will tour all the country's provinces to thank voters who voted for MDC and also announce new strategies, Nyathi said.
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