via Tsvangirai calls for early congress in March, but no takers | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda on Friday, January 24, 2014
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday moved a motion to call for an early congress in March, in an attempt to head off an expected challenge from his political rivals.
The top leadership of the opposition party, the standing committee, met in Harare where Tsvangirai called for a snap party vote in a bid to end uncertainty over his job.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that the motion was not seconded by anybody, amid reports Tsvangirai had also put up his name for re-election. He told the meeting he was prepared to face any challengers.
Instead, party members implored Tsvangirai to concentrate on restructuring the party in preparations for the 2018 elections. The meeting unanimously agreed the next congress will be held as scheduled in 2016.
The vote will have brought to a head months of tension within the party over who will lead it into the election in 2018. It would also have helped settle Tsvangirai’s long-running leadership tussle with his rivals, who were reportedly orchestrating a revolt that would have seen the veteran trade unionist ousted as party president.
Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that the issue of leadership renewal was discussed and that after some debate they felt there were no compelling reasons for having an early congress.
The outcome is a major boast for Tsvangirai who was facing increasing pressure from within his party to call for an early congress to deal with the leadership renewal or step down and make way for another candidate.
A source told us he emerged from his party’s meeting emboldened with the knowledge that no one had the guts to stand up and challenge him in a leadership contest.
‘It’s like he’s received a vote of confidence from his standing committee and all talk of a leadership contest or him stepping down will be put on the backburner for the next two years. It has given Tsvangirai some breathing space which he will use to rebrand himself as well as the party,’ our source said.
Despite their loss at the hands of ZANU PF at last year’s elections Mwonzora says he is optimistic about the MDC-T’s chances of rebuilding, saying the labour backed party needs to rebuild and show Zimbabweans it can be ‘united, stable and focused on them, and not ourselves as leaders.’
COMMENTS
May fate intervene and give us by 2018, presidential candidates we can vote for as enthusiastically and cheerfully as the majority of voters did in 1980, or 2008. Because for now we are caught between a rock and a hard place.
Make that 2002, not 2008.
INTERESTING!
those that refused to back him are not giving him a lifeline if anything they are aware he would beat them hands down if an early congress was to be called, they think by 2016 they would have done enough homework which include soiling the person of RMT. yet we the body mass are awake to their machinations. we know those who negotiated a weak GNU which was never implimented. we are watching every step
Unless MT can pull something out of the hat ( As opposed to his pants), I regret to say that this is probably the end of the MDC, he does not have the brains or the ability. He also surrounds himself with very bad advisers who have been his downfall.
but i believe they voted 7 to 4 to have early congress….someone must be misrepresenting the facts….morgan, morgan, nelson and lovemore makes 4!!!!
In my humble opinion, MDC is making the same mistake(s) that it accuses ZANU PF of making. There should be leadership renewal in that party. There should be no sacred cows. Morgan has overstayed and failed to deliver what he promised the electorate, regardless of rigging, factual or perceived. By hanging onto the post of party president, Morgan is helping to brew a culture of holding onto to the baton stick. I thought he wanted to show the nation that no one is indispensable. I am disillusioned.
critics were silenced and put to rest.
What MDC needs to do now is to make a lot of noise. The right kind of noise. Zanu is imploding. MDC starts to slumber. Lord help us. How long must we suffer.
I totally agree with this. I think once someone has been in power for too long, it grasps them in its tentacles and begins a slow but sure process of corrupting them. What was a bright and promising start ends up mired in pride and megalomania, insensitivity and detachment from reality. We’ve seen this happen in Zanu PF. I love Morgan, but leadership renewal will help keep that love
MDC is a party for the pple not individuals. when we feel MT has it enough we will say so, not little elton. why was there no leadership renewal during the liberation struggle? agarisa kupi Tsvangirai wacho? ndiye watinoda kuti atibudise mu Egypita umu. musiyei aite zvaakatogona kare, maimbovepi achitanga hondo yedu iyi?
tsvangirayi must step down and surport the new candidate. some people are beginning to consider tsvangirai as a dictator lyk Mugabe and that is destroying ther support.mdc t ikaenda kuma internal election tsvangirayi will win bt he will never win againit Mugabe because vanhu vamwe vakuuona samugabe asi akaresigner people will surely note that tikaisa mdc t tagara mushe.tis infighting is destroying you and u gonower.tsvangira must not also show supot to an candidate during part elections.by doing so he will be respected and continuebieng influential within the party