Own Correspondent|Veteran MDC senior member Elias Mudzuri has finally come clean on where he stands regards the Supreme Court ruling that cleared Nelson Chamisa illegitimate leader of the opposition party.

Mudzuri who had not ditched Chamisa in the aftermath of the ruling, on Saturday told The Standard news editor Everson Mushava that he accepted the court ruling literally declaring himself against Chamisa.

Mudzuri made a surprise declaration when he concurred with the court ruling that his and Chamisa’s appointments as vice-presidents by the late founding party leader Morgan Tsvangirai were irregular.

“I accept the ruling and as a party we have to face it for the purposes of uniting the party mainly because of various reasons amongst which are, first, as a social democratic party, we are bound by the rule of law, constitutionalism, democracy and respect for institutions.

“We have no other option, but to accept the outcome of court processes.

“Secondly, MDC is an institution that is respected and as the largest opposition political party poised to replace Zanu PF, we must respect our founding principles and values and also observe international best practices governing progressive democratic institutions.

“Thirdly, the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land outside constitutional issues and has made a landmark ruling in a case pitting the party against an ordinary member seeking redress on what he believed had been a denial of his democratic right to elect a leader of his own choice.

“As a grassroots-based party, we respect feedback on our decisions from the ordinary members.

“Finally, I also acknowledge as pointed out in the judgement, that as a party, we did not get proper advice on certain constitutional processes that needed to be followed in choosing a successor to our late icon Dr Morgan Tsvangirai (may his soul rest in peace).”