MDC leaders in international diplomatic offensive

MDC leaders in international diplomatic offensive

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By Staff Reporters

THE two faction leaders of Zimbabwe's feuding opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party have left Zimbabwe to drum up international support for their respective programmes to bring change in the southern African country.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC's founding president who now leads a faction of the party following a split last November this week left for South Africa. Sources said he would also visit Namibia before returning to Harare.

It is believed Tsvangirai was invited to meet South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, and a similar invitation had been extended by Namibian leader, Hifikepunye Pohamba.

Arthur Mutambara, leader of the other MDC faction, was in Sweden this week. He was expected to arrive in Britain late Friday. Officials said he would meet his supporters at a public meeting at the Claremont Resource Centre in Manchester on Sunday noon.

Political observers say the divided MDC is at its weakest, six years after being thrust to the eye of the Zimbabwean political storm by a wave of popular protests against President Robert Mugabe's economic policies.

The MDC split was precipitated by acute differences over party policy just before last November's senate elections. Tsvangirai, a former trade unionist, called for a boycott of the elections but some of his most senior colleagues, buoyed by a vote of the party's national council, opposed their leader.

The split in the MDC has divided international opinion. Some foreign governments watching the political developments in Zimbabwe have been left in a gap.

Sources told New Zimbabwe.com Thursday night that the two leaders were using the trips to re-ignite international interest in Zimbabwe and find new strategic partners.

Conrad Nyamutata, a Zimbabwean journalist said: "Both factions have held their congresses and rallies in Zimbabwe. Now it is time for diplomatic maneuvering. Every political party needs strategic regional and international friends."

Nyamutata believes the trips could also be used by the MDC leaders to raise funds to sustain their political activities as they seek to break President Mugabe's 26-year stranglehold on power.

Nyamutata added: "These diplomatic forays must be viewed within the context of the ongoing battle for recognition and legitimacy between the factions, locally regionally and internationally.

"In Tsvangirai's case, it is to reassert and maintain his position as the founding father of the MDC. On the other hand, Mutambara wants to introduce himself as the new leader of the party. It is particularly important for Mutambara because Tsvangirai has already covered a fair amount of ground in that zone."

Tsvangirai's visit to South Africa, observers say, is particularly significant as he previously snubbed a meeting with President Thabo Mbeki late last year convened in a desperate attempt to prevent the split.

After Tsvangirai refused to travel to South Africa, some of his colleagues in the other camp, led at the time by his former deputy, Gibson Sibanda, proceeded to meet Mbeki. Details of their meeting were not disclosed.

Early this month, Mbeki once again met the other camp for the first time with Arthur Mutambara as leader following his election at the faction's congress in February this year.

Following the meeting with Mutambara, the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper said Mbeki was happy with the former NASA scientist's attempt to “re-brand” the MDC to shed its alleged “Western puppet image” which discouraged many African governments from supporting its agenda.

It was not possible to obtain comment from Tsvangirai's faction spokesman Nelson Chamisa who was travelling with him. Also in the party was Tendai Biti, the faction's secretary general.

Gabriel Chaibva, the Mutambara faction spokesman said: “The president is on a trip to Europe and will be passing through London where he will meet the party’s structures."

Mutambara launched his campaign saying the MDC needed to "re-brand and refocus". Mutambara said the MDC had been damaged by its perceived alliance with whites and Western governments, also warning that the party needed to take the battle to the Zanu PF turf by pursuing a Pan-Africanist agenda.

Tsvangirai, meanwhile, is promising a "winter of discontent" -- an ambitious plan to lead a wave of street protests against President Mugabe's government. Analysts say like all such threats from Tsvangirai in the past, the risk of failure is high. They point at the vast state machinery at President Mugabe's disposal to thwart any uprising, if ever Tsvangirai's supporters heed the call.
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