Court hands Tsvangirai MDC control

Court hands Tsvangirai MDC control

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By MacDonald Dzirutwe

A ZIMBABWEAN court on Friday dismissed a case brought by members of the country's main opposition party seeking to oust party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which has posed the biggest challenge to President Robert Mugabe's 25-year rule, has been in turmoil since it split into two factions in a disagreement over participation in last month's Senate polls.

Tsvangirai told a news briefing on Friday the court result would bring the party back as a political force.

"If Robert Mugabe thought he had an early Christmas present of a dead MDC, he shall now get a New Year wake-up call," said Tsvangirai.

But political analysts said while the judgement confirmed Tsvangirai's leadership of the MDC, it remains unclear whether the party will be able to regroup sufficiently to mount new electoral challenges to Mugabe at least in the near term.

The MDC dispute arose after Tsvangirai, who has led the party since its founding in 1999, called for a poll boycott. He argued that participating in the vote would give credence to an election he said was rigged to produce victory for Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF.

But a splinter group led by MDC Deputy President Gibson Sibanda and Secretary-General Welshman Ncube fielded candidates in some constituencies, saying not to do so would betray the party's trust with voters.

The splinter group then wrote a letter to Tsvangirai saying he was suspended for flouting the party's laws by making the boycott decree. Tsvangirai fought back, saying the letter was invalid.

On Friday, High Court Judge Yunus Omerjee dismissed the case brought by the faction seeking Tsvangirai's ouster without giving reasons. He ordered MDC Deputy Secretary-General Gift Chimanikire, who represented the pro-election faction, to pay costs for the lawsuit.

"In the result the application be and is hereby dismissed," said Omerjee in a brief judgement.
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