Tsvangirai urged to pass the baton

Source: Tsvangirai urged to pass the baton – DailyNews Live

Farayi Machamire      12 November 2017

HARARE – Former Zanu PF politburo member Kudakwashe Bhasikiti – now
opposition Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) top official – has urged ailing MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai to hand over power.

He suggested MDC vice president Nelson Chamisa as the capable Tsvangirai
successor.

This comes amid growing calls for Tsvangirai to take a backseat in
politics on the back of his ill health.

The long-time President Robert Mugabe foe is suffering from colon cancer
and has of late been in-and-out of hospital in South Africa.

Bhasikiti claims Chamisa has the mettle to galvanise the opposition family
into one political force to successfully challenge Mugabe in next year’s
elections.

“If…Tsvangirai is overwhelmed by current medical procedures let’s take a
young focused candidate in the name of…Chamisa,” he said.

“I want to agree with all progressive forces that we join hands to be one
opposition movement to remove the ravaging Zanu PF monster,” Bhasikiti
said

His pronouncements come as an awakening of sorts as ZPF elders – Didymus
Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo, both formerly in Zanu PF – have previously
disassociated themselves with the MDC Alliance saying its name and logo
are tantamount to marketing Tsvangirai.

MDC Alliance is a union of seven opposition political parties, which
joined forces to challenge Mugabe in the 2018 elections.

The Alliance is led by Tsvangirai.

Commenting on Tsvangirai’s continued leadership, director of a UK-based
think tank APPRI (Africa Public Policy Research institute), Lloyd Msipa,
said:  “It will be a test of how great a leader Tsvangirai can be if he
does the right thing and steps down. Tsvangirai has fought his fight, he
has run his race. He has the chance to live behind a credible legacy if he
steps down now and leaves a credible successor with time to put together a
team to take his party to the next level. That will change the entire
political discourse and even boost the voter registration process that is
happening”.

However, MDC Alliance principals have remained firmly behind Tsvangirai,
insisting they will continue to support him as their presidential
candidate, despite panic over his health.

MDC Alliance spokesperson and leader of the smaller MDC, Welshman Ncube,
said they still have faith in Tsvangirai and he still remained the
opposition’s best chance to topple Zanu PF which has been in power since
1980.