Terrence Mawawa, Mwenezi | Opposition MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, faces a possible revolt in his party for attempting to impose party candidates ahead of next year’s elections.
Party members are unhappy with the release of a template containing rules and regulations on primary elections.
Angry party members have said the template is a ploy by Tsvangirai and members of the National Standing Committee to field their preferred candidates at the expense party cadres at grassroots level.
The template effectively bars junior party officials from participating in the primary elections.
Provincial MDC members said they would vehemently oppose Tsvangirai’s bid to subvert the will of the people.
“We are a democratic party and we will not tolerate dictatorship. How can they say senior officials will go unchallenged? These guys are behaving like Zanu PF leaders,” said a provincial member.
Some party members threatened to vote for Zanu PF in protest against the imposition of candidates.
“There are some individuals who have been sponsoring Tsvangirai so he wants to reward them for bailing him out,” said a member of the Masvingo Urban Constituency District Executive Committee.
Tsvangirai has also been accused of falsely preaching democracy while trampling on the very tenets of people driven leadership.
“There will be voter apathy if they stick to the provisions of the template,” warned another party official.
MDC national spokesperson, Obert Gutu dismissed claims that the template had been released.
“No template has been released as yet.All our structures will be notified accordingly in due course,” said Gutu.
These members are going to have the real shock when they are told they will have to step aside to allow some little known coalition partner to contest in their place!
Tendai Biti is being clever here (so too in Ncube and all the other brief-case opposition parties); if by endorsing Tsvangirai coalition president he will get a clear shot at his old Mount Pleasant MP seat plus a few others seats beside then PDP will stand to gain. Biti was not going to win the presidential race and he knows it! Of course Biti will tell Tsvangirai he is doing the MDC-T leader a great favour joining the big tend and the PDP votes he brings will guarantee SAVE a landslide victory.
With every opposition upstart that endorse Tsvangirai, his ear to ear smile spreads even further, he is looking more and more like pacman. It is those below Tsvangirai who are going to feel how rotten the grand coalition deal is because they are the ones who will have to give up safe opposition seats to coalition partners.
It was the MDC-T members revolted and stopped a pre-election coalition deal with MDC-N last time. History has the habit of repeating itself!
Another own Goal!!! These people are hopeless!!!!
Cde Tsvangirai is right, this ‘democracy’ you cry for is the biggest door used by CIOs to come into the party. No more splits, tangwara ikozvino!
Khupe ndiye akaisa Ezra Sibanda na Eric Knight palast election here. Democracy means munhu anodiwa nevanhu hazvina basa ne hierarchy.
Nhai help me understand MDC. Currently they are boycotting elections because of no reforms dzisingataurwe Kuti ndedzipi dzacho dzinoda kureformewa. Asi they are busy preparing for next year elections. Chiiko chinenge chachinja next year. If they are scared of elections now, they will also be thoroughly beaten next then the cycle of varigger comes all over again. Please give us a break.
Khupe and Bhebhe are main the culprits want to protect their relatives and friends in Bulawayo Province.
Mabasa ezanupf