SW Radio Africa – Violet Gonda
The posts of secretary for legal affairs and the secretary for economic affairs were left vacant
The legal affairs spokesman for the MDC, David Coltart, has rejected his appointment to the National Executive of the pro-senate faction of the party, which held its congress in Bulawayo at the weekend. Coltart told SW Radio Africa that he has always wanted to preserve his neutrality so he can help the two warring factions reach an amicable divorce. He said: “I am obviously honoured to have been nominated but, with the greatest respect, I will turn it down as I said in my letter to both Morgan Tsvangirai and Gibson Sibanda that I would not be attending either Congress and would not seek election, or accept nomination, to either Executive. He said he would only decide where his “political home will be†once a settlement had been reached. A press statement issued with a list of new officials for the group now led by Professor Arthur Mutambara was sent out on Wednesday. Coltart said he was surprised to discover that he was appointed a Committee Member of the Bulawayo province. He stated that his position was pending the completion of his attempt to bring about an amicable settlement of the dispute between the two factions. Coltart has in the past refused to align himself with either group but news of his election has further fuelled speculation about his position on this matter. The Mutambara-led camp successfully filled most of the positions but the posts of secretary for legal affairs and the secretary for economic affairs were left vacant in the hope of giving them to either Coltart or Tendai Biti, who supports the Tsvangirai led camp.
Coltart said he has been distressed by the divisions as he believes that these two factions cannot be as effective apart from each other as they would be if they were aligned with each other. He said: “I recognise that this decision may well result in me not having an Executive position in future and that reconciliation is minimal but I feel it’s important that an amicable divorce is achieved so that the groups do not fight each other for the next two years.†The two camps are fighting over the party name, logo, symbols and assets. Coltart warned that it would be a sad day if the dispute was to go to the courts. He said if that were to happen, Zanu PF would be given the opportunity through the courts to determine how long the dispute will go on for. He added: “It will effectively give Zanu PF the right to ultimately decide which faction they want to deal with, which faction they want to give the assets to. And it’s not in the interest of democracy. It’s not in the interest of either faction to give Zanu PF this power.” He said both sides have to compromise and retreat from some of their current positions.