MDC goes down, fighting itself!

MDC goes down, fighting itself!

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• Ncube not for turning

• Bekithemba Mhlanga: Label food, not people

• Nixon Mao: Our darkest day

• Tsvangirai threatens 'political action'

• Tsvangirai on ropes after senate rebellion

• Nigeria, Ghana sucked into MDC crisis

• Prof J Moyo: 'All Zanu PF want is geriatrics to be senators'

• Stanford Mukasa: Rejoinder to PT Nyathi

• Bloody Monday for MDC

• Paul T Nyathi: Tribal slurs easy to make, but extremely dangerous

• Brilliant Mhlanga: MDC no longer an alternative

• Patrick Mlambo: Tsvangirai has lost plot

• Nyathi hits back at Tsvangirai bribery claims

• Bekithemba Mhlanga: Tsvangirai fell for Zanu PF bait

• Alex Magaisa: Handling a fledging democracy

• Elliot Pfebve: Tsvangirai and Mugabe, larvae and butterfly scenario

• MDC moves to impeach Tsvangirai

• Gibson Sibanda: Tsvangirai in breach of constitution

• Tsvangirai accuses officials of vote-buying

• Itai Zimunya: MDC split good for Zimbabwe

• Tsvangirai bid to heal rifts

• Chenjerai Hove: The MDC and a very Zimbabwean disease

• Tsvangirai must 'come to terms' - Nyathi

• Msekiwa Makwanya: Tsvangirai, lessons in democratic process

• Heads must roll

• MDC splits widen after senate vote

• Tsvangirai: We are out

• Nyathi: We are in

• MDC to boycott senate - Tsvangirai

By Dumisani Muleya

ZIMBABWE's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is locked in increasingly self-destructive political combat. The party seems determined to go down -- fighting itself!

The current internal war in the MDC has been proceeding at low intensity for some time, but escalated three weeks ago following a dispute over participation in next month's senate election.

The party's national executive council voted 33 to 31 for participation in the election. Two ballots were spoilt.
However, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled rank and overruled the council, saying that entering such elections breeds "illegitimate outcomes".

Welshman Ncube, MDC secretary-general, argued that boycotting the poll would be political suicide as it would render the party irrelevant. This triggered a battle of wills between the Tsvangirai and Ncube camps.

At face value, the crisis assumes an ethnic character because Tsvangirai leads a Shona-dominated faction, whilst Ncube heads a largely Ndebele camp.

But the central issues have nothing to do with tribalism. The crisis in the MDC is due mainly to structural tensions resulting from its failure to balance competing interests. The conflict is also about leadership and policy differences. There are compelling questions being asked about Tsvangirai's leadership qualities.
The MDC's obvious lack of ideological cohesion is another sticking point. Modern politics is a fight of ideas. Any party's ideology is vital in shaping and defining it.

A cursory look at the MDC's short history reveals that it emerged from the trade union and civic movement in 1999. The party was an eclectic mix of trade unions, civic organisations, business associations, pressure groups, professionals, farmers and students. The MDC was in essence a creature of Zanu (PF) failures. President Robert Mugabe's ineptitude provided conditions for the MDC to emerge.

After winning almost half the contested seats in the national elections in 2000 (57 of 120), the MDC, largely due to a hostile political environment and internal weaknesses, failed to evolve into a cohesive unit. It also did not come up with credible policies.

The party failed to recruit some of Zimbabwe's best minds, and this explains its intellectual poverty, its policy inadequacies and its leadership limitations.
Now, Tsvangirai cannot rise to the challenge to rescue his party from its self-destruction.

Leadership is a process of policy and administrative decisions, particularly under difficult conditions. It is the leader's responsibility to hold his party together -- to act as a referee and ensure disputes do not impair or destroy the organisation. But instead of being umpire, Tsvangirai has reduced himself to faction leader.
If he had stayed neutral and mediated successfully in the crisis, his rating would have increased. Leading a faction and engaging in dogfights has damaged his credibility.

If the party splits, it will be a tremendous waste of the courageous challenge it has presented to the Mugabe regime for the past five years. The MDC plucked up enough courage to enter into Zimbabwe's cutthroat politics, and to fight the ruling Zanu (PF). As a result, the MDC and its supporters suffered endless bouts of state-sponsored political violence, beatings, arrests, detentions, torture, and death. Tsvangirai, Ncube and agriculture secretary Renson Gasela escaped treason convictions, while party members were subjected to relentless harassment. Against all these odds, the MDC almost defeated Zanu (PF), twice.

But now -- unless something dramatic happens -- the party seems headed for a breakup.

Muleya is Business Day's Harare correspondent and Zimbabwe Independent news editor
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