Chamisa rants at media as pressure piles on Tsvangirai

Chamisa rants at media as pressure piles on Tsvangirai

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By Staff Reporters

MORGAN Tsvangirai launched a damage-limitation exercise after a dramatic showdown with his party’s national executive council left him bruised and fighting for his political future.

Tsvangirai, who leads a faction of the fractious opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), wheeled out his party’s spokesman Nelson Chamisa to neutralise growing opposition to his leadership style.

The developments came after the MDC’s national council refused to endorse the controversial election of Theresa Makone as the leader of the women’s assembly in place of the deposed veteran trade unionist, Lucia Matibenga.

Chamisa had originally issued a sparsely detailed statement following Saturday’s meeting, saying a decision on Makone’s election had been delayed until November 11 when the party’s chairman, Lovemore Moyo, would present a report.

At the meeting, Tsvangirai tried to railroad delegates into accepting Makone’s dubious election but met stern opposition from MPs and senior officials. The internal revolt attracted less than positive headlines in Sunday newspapers and online media outlets.

Matibenga has already accused Tsvangirai of breaking the MDC constitution “left, right and centre” in pushing for her ouster in order to clear the way for Makone. Makone is the wife of Tsvangirai’s friend and financier, Ian Makone.

Chamisa, who opposed Matibenga’s ouster, claimed in a fresh media statement on Monday that reports of troubles in Tsvangirai’s group were a creation of the media.

In an intemperate statement full of accusations and labels, Chamisa accused the media of having “fanciful delusions” and being “surrogates who are working overtime to plot and sponsor confusion within the democratic movement.”

Critically, his statement failed to confirm Makone as the new leader of the women’s assembly.

Chamisa ranted: “Contrary to wishful media reports of a fall-out within the ranks of the MDC, there was consensus on all the matters that were up for discussion, including the issue of the Women's Assembly.

“We note with concern the deliberate efforts to tarnish, to malign and to soil the image of President Morgan Tsvangirai and other leaders in the party. The MDC shall not be swayed into an unnecessary side-show which is intended to divert attention from the real issues affecting the ordinary man and woman.”

Chamisa further claimed that the MDC -- which split in October 2005 when half the party’s MPs accused Tsvangirai of being a “dictator” -- was a “united family of democrats”.

He insisted: “…we have openly debated our issues. This frankness and open debate has kept alive the internal democracy that we will continue to nurture and protect.”

But Chamisa’s bid to paint a rosy picture in the faction was immediately punctured by a report by a women’s group appointed to observe elections for the new women’s assembly in Bulawayo.

The Women in Politics Support Unit (WiPSU) dismissed Makone’s election as a farce, and detailed allegations of rigging and flagrant breach of MDC rules on elections.

WiPSU said in its report circulated Monday: “The pre-election period was characterised by secrecy and rumours in respect of the venue of the congress.

“The MDC argued that the reason for secrecy regarding the venue was to ensure security for the participants. This allegation is questionable as it was clear only those in the Makone camp knew of the venue in sufficient time though Matibenga’s supporters were informed of the venue either the night before the congress or on the morning of the congress.

“This clearly indicates the secrecy was merely to misinform the Matibenga supporters and ensure their exclusion from the electoral process.”

The damning report painted chaotic scenes during the elections which were held in a restaurant owned by Tsvangirai’s deputy, Thokozani Khupe.

It said: “The MDC certainly did not strive to ensure that all party processes were conducted in a manner that was free, open and gave all interested persons in the Women’s Assembly the opportunity to participate in the election of their leadership. The process was highly exclusionary in direct contrast to the SADC guidelines and principles of the MDC constitution.

“Emakhandeni Hall in Bulawayo was rumoured to be the official venue of the congress, a fact however, that observers were unable to confirm prior the election. The use of Emakhandeni Hall, as the official venue of the congress would have been in line with SADC principles that provide that polling stations should be in neutral places.

“When it became apparent that Matibenga’s supporters had gone to Emakhandeni Hall, and the party leadership felt that the process of electing Makone into office would be jeopardised or disrupted by Matibenga’s supporters, the party elected to keep the delegates at Fast Climbers Restaurant and secretly elect Makone as chairperson.

“The delegates gathered at Emakhandeni Hall were not aware that the secret venue had shifted to Fast Climbers Restaurant and that the MDC had commenced the election under the guise of serving “restaurant patrons’” meals.

“Fast Climbers was certainly not a neutral venue, it is owned by Thokozani Khupe, Vice-President of the MDC (Tsvangirai) and a supporter of Makone. As the venue was now a private and not a public space, Khupe had the right to eject and deny entry to those persons she did not consider acceptable, which she did.

“The entire electoral atmosphere was characterised by secrecy, suspicion and fear of Matibenga’s supporters. The secrecy of the venue was a means of curbing Matibenga’s supporters from arriving at the venue. There was a great deal of intimidation of delegates seen interacting with the observers.

“In addition, Moyo, Chairperson of the MDC, used the tense atmosphere; created by the arrival of the protestors outside the restaurant, to compel women to vote for the unopposed candidates or accept that the MDC leadership would “select” leadership for them in the form of an interim committee. Moyo manipulated the fears of the audience through his conduct and secured the election result desired by the party.”
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