MDC Cautious About Embracing Ousted Zanu(PF) Members

via RadioVop Zimbabwe – MDC Cautious About Embracing Ousted Zanu(PF) Members 13/02/2015

Welshman Ncube, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said his party was unlikely to make any overtures to ousted Zanu (PF) members any time soon, but adopt a wait and see stance as the “character” of the fallen cadres of the ruling party remained questionable.
Ncube expressed reservations over seeking a possible coalition with a section of disgruntled Zanu (PF) members.
Ncube’s MDC party, which broke off from the mainstream MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai in 2005, is on the verge of uniting with the MDC Renewal Team led by Sekai Holland, itself yet another chip off the original democratic movement.
Indications are that the ruling party may be headed for a split, as legitimacy of the composition of its current leadership has been brought under scrutiny by the former secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa who claimed it is “illegal”.
Hardliners in an opposing camp in Zanu (PF) have vowed to fight Mutasa’s claims and are agitating for the expulsion of perceived rogue elements in what is likely to bring the factional wars in the revolutionary party to a head.
Observers warn of the risks of the infighting plunging the country into a political paralysis which could affect other arms of government, such as Parliament.
Ncube this week told the Financial gazette that there had been no dialogue or communication between his MDC party and Zanu (PF) and instead were “walking carefully” in their interpretation of events in the ruling party and what the likely outcome could be.
Fierce speculation is that Zanu (PF) could be headed for a major split in ranks, led by former vice-president Joice Mujuru.
Particularly worrying for the MDC was Mutasa’s statement in the media recently which suggested that its authors were oblivious to the carnage which ZANU-PF had for so long presided over even before the congress.
“Given Mutasa’s comments, there seems to be no recognition that the Zanu(PF) of pre-July 2013 was a monster and emphasis is being given to the events only of the congress,” said Ncube. “Our experience and sufferings of the past tells us that Zanu(PF) has been a monster for a long time”.
Ncube said whether Zanu (PF) would split or not was speculative at this stage and only time would tell what would happen to the country’s oldest political party.
“We are in the realm of speculation at the moment. We don’t know what the character of a splinter group in Zanu(PF) would be, or what kind of an animal it would be. We have nothing in common with it,” said Ncube.
Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai’s spokesman, said Mutasa’s statement has vindicated what the MDC-T had been saying all along.
“Ironically, Mutasa unwittingly admits to being part of the rot. (In his damning statement) he said ‘the sad events of the past months reflect a deep-seated historical failure by the party leadership……’ If the failure is historical as you put it, and you have been part of that history in the leadership of the party, are your hands clean and are you suddenly out of that bracket of failure?”

The Financial Gazette