via Tsvangirai, Biti rift widens – NewsDay Zimbabwe. 12 June 2014 by Moses Matenga
CHANCES of reunification between the two warring MDC-T factions fronted by party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his “fired” secretary-general Tendai Biti remain a pie in the sky as the two protagonists have continued to pour scorn at each other.
Tsvangirai and Biti parted ways in March this year after the latter accused the former Premier of unilateralism and breaching the opposition party’s founding principles.
Although MDC-T Guardian Council chairperson Sekai Holland yesterday insisted that her council had made some headway in trying to bring the parties to the negotiating table, Tsvangirai’s loyalists immediately issued a statement distancing themselves from the alleged unity talks.
Holland told NewsDay yesterday that she met Tsvangirai on Tuesday in a bid to facilitate the unity talks.
She also said her council had held several private talks with Biti to persuade his renewal team to rejoin the main MDC-T party.
“We are talking to everybody, but our role as the Guardian Council is not to mediate, but to give advice,” Holland said.
“Advice can be taken or rejected, but if you are in a revolution, hope is eternal and I am hopeful because there is no other way except for the leaders to unite and for all opposition parties to unite,” she said.
She castigated MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora for labelling Biti’s renewal team “agents of Zanu PF”, saying such statements frustrated her council’s efforts to reunite the two factions.
“The president (Tsvangirai) called me on Saturday, but I couldn’t meet him because of other commitments. I met him on Tuesday and we spoke. We had a nice discussion,” Holland said, but declined to give details of their meeting.
“I am free to talk to any member anytime and they are free to contact me anytime. He rang me on Saturday, but I couldn’t go and I went to see him on Tuesday and we discussed. It was internal and it was not about mediation,” the former National Healing co-minister said.
But in a statement, Tsvangirai’s followers ruled out any possibility of reunification saying they would not talk to “rebels who had openly spoken of their engagement with Zanu PF”.
“We note with concern the false narrative to the effect that Mrs Sekai Holland is leading mediation efforts between the MDC and the rebels led by the former secretary-general, Biti,” the statement read.
“The recent announcement by the rebels that they have formally charged the party president and will soon bring him before a disciplinary hearing is not consistent with any form of mediation either taking place or about to take place.
“We see no reason to reengage with people who have openly confessed to be working Zanu PF and state security agents,” the MDC-T said.
COMMENTS
Doomed
The train is moving. They will eventually loose relevance. Poor leadership.
If for sure they stand for the people and a separate cause of fighting for the people’s freedom,they couldn’t be fighting each other by now but should be regrouping in defeat,mobilizing their demoralized following.Embracing change to rebrand face and move on.In reality,every failure manifests change one way or the other for a new hope.
Armchair commentators you have destroyed zimbabwe.you criticize everything because you are jelousy.
So true, they should just unite, I think they stand a better chance united because that would show that there is no discrimination against people with differing opinions
@Lucy TT, people cannot unite for the sake of uniting, if the differences are huge I see no reason at all to ignore those differences, especially if the differences are with regards to principles. The problem we need to curb before it goes out of hand is that of building our super powers, The Alphas and Omegas of Zimbabwean politics. Zanu-PF made that mistake and now continuity after Mugabe is uncertain. MT has played his part and if he is a true leader he needs to do what is good for the party and the nation, resign. We will forever respect his contributions. Change starts within, lets not expect better if we cant do it ourselves
Let Biti and his rebels lot go their renewal way forever!! Why let them back??
The Tswangirai faction do not have the people’s interest in mind. The people would say sit down and agree to disagree on the table. The people will then know, out of the outcome, which faction to side with. A true leader does not make decisions based on assumptions. The fact that you don’t want to sit down when such a platform is created might show that you have no proof of those claims.
That is nonsense new leaders leaders will be chosen at the forthcoming congress. Biti and his rebels should not impose thmselves by silly tactics.
Davy, you right on the mark! Let all interested in leadership persuade party members and present themselves at the congress. If the people prefer their brand of leadership, they will choose them. At the moment, Biti and company simply want to be at the top without going through the acid test of endorsement by the congress! Congress is the most appropriate forum for orderly leadership renewal, not the backdoor, underhanded, back-stabbing shenanigans of Biti and his henchman. They could have had a case but the way they have chosen makes them lose credibility and the people of Zimbabwe are all the worse for it because they are now deprived of a vibrant, united, focused, alternative government in waiting. The result is that governing standards of ZPF continue to plumb the depths of ignominy because there simply is no one to oppose them! In the final analysis, its the citizens who bear the brunt!
loveness,what jelous are you referring to.I think people envy or became jelous when someone succeeds.Our ambassadors of change went into a kamikaze election participation as one gullible naïve bunch and now they are emerging in defeat as two groups of loosers.Do you want people to giggle and say well done guys.So minion of you my dear!!
Once again Mwonzora has shown his immaturity. Just because someone has a different point of view does not necessarily mean they are ZPF agents. He worked with the ‘renewal team’ for nearly 14 years & only now has this opinion. Sadly his comments are similar to ZPF who brand anyone who opposes them as anti-Zimbabwean.
Mwonzora is right because it has become increasingly evident that this is the case with these guys and they are not ‘everyone’. Mwonzora is referring only to these guys and not everyone with opinions different from him or his grouping. I think it is hitting below the belt to make such a comment.
MDC T problems will never be solved in press conferences but the electorate will have final say.
Since one Biti addressed a rally that had no more than 50 souls attending including Biti’s entourage he wont want anything to do with congress. He wants to win by cheating.
hatidi unite nemarebels