Tsvangirai fires fresh salvo at colleagues

Tsvangirai fires fresh salvo at colleagues

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• MDC youths on violence charges

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• Msekiwa Makwanya: Rank hypocrisy in MDC senate debate

• Nigeria, Ghana reject funding MDC

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• Nixon Mao: Our darkest day

• Tsvangirai threatens 'political action'

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• 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

• B Mhlanga: Tsvangirai fell for Zanu PF bait

• Alex Magaisa: Handling a fledging democracy

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

• MDC moves to impeach Tsvangirai

• 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

• M Makwanya: 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 Staff Reporter

MORGAN Tsvangirai threatened the uneasy calm that appeared to return to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) when he claimed that colleagues who have defied his call for a senate boycott were working with the ruling Zanu PF.

It took extraordinary efforts to get the MDC leader to meet his senior colleagues in talks aimed at healing a widening rift caused by Tsvangirai's refusal to endorse a majority decision supporting participation in senate elections later next month.

Senior officials, including Tsvangirai's deputy Gibson Sibanda, secretary general Welshman Ncube and party spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi have openly rebuked Tsvangirai for defying a decision of the party's national council to contest the senate elections.

Several churchmen and a political analyst (Brian Raftopoulos) respected by both factions brought the warring parties together towards the end of last week, following which Tsvangirai and Sibanda addressed reporters. In a brief statement, they said it had been agreed that both factions would stop making "acrimonious comments".

But on Friday, Tsvangirai relaunched a series of rallies intended to persuade party members to follow his election boycott call.

He addressed MDC supporters in Silobela, a town in Midlands North province where three candidates defied him by registering to contest the November 26 elections in which 50 of 66 upper house seats will be filled.

The Voice of America quoted him telling supporters that the debate on the senate was not the real issue in the intra-party dispute, because a truly united party would never have come to the brink of a schism over the question of whether to participate in the elections or boycott them.

On Saturday, Tsvangirai returned to the capital, Harare, where he launched a severe attack on the pro-senate group, claiming they were working with Zanu PF in order to form a unity government.

Addressing supporters in Kuwadzana, he said: “The issue that is there is not about the senate only. It is about whether you want to confront (President Robert) Mugabe or you want to compromise with Mugabe. Some of us are now working towards a unity accord. We are saying ‘no’ to unity accord number two. With us there is no unity accord… we will not do what (the late vice-president Joshua) Nkomo did."

Although no names were mentioned, it was clear who was the target of Tsvangirai's attack. The clues were written all over his message as he claimed his political opponents had "retreated to Bulawayo" -- reference to Ncube, Nyathi and Sibanda's home city.

According to the Daily Mirror, Tsvangirai told his supporters that they (pro-senate MDC leaders) could not hide in Bulawayo for long and that he would soon be visiting the region to entrench the “No to Senate message”.

MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi immediately hit back at Tsvangirai -- all but confirming a solution to the crisis is further away.

“I am not aware of any member of the MDC doing that (advocating a unity government)," Nyathi said.

"It's fiction. It is unfortunate that part of the disagreements within the party over the senate issue have seen some resorting to the tendency of demonising others. Insulting those that hold a different view point is very unMDC. We can debate this issue of the senate without casting aspersions. If you have strong points, you have to raise your flag and not insult other people.”

Reports say several songs attacking the pro-senate group were sung at the Kuwadzana rally.

“Vamwe vedu voita mutserendende parazor” (Some among us are sliding on razor blades) and “Mupanduki chera mwena (traitor dig a hole)”, Tsvangirai's supporters sang.

Asked whether his party had any talks with MDC officials towards the establishment of a unity government, Zanu PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said: “The MDC leader is always dreaming about things that are not true.”

Reports on Sunday had suggested that a compromise deal was in the offing. A South African newspaper on reported that one of the compromises was that Tsvangirai would dispense with his "kitchen cabinet" of paid and volunteer advisors "who have become more important to him than elected officials."

"In return, those who believed and still do, that adherence to the MDC constitution is a bottom line may quietly try and persuade candidates now registered for next month's senate elections to withdraw......an exception might be made for the Matabeleland provinces," the Sunday Argus reported.
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