The Zimbabwe Independent

THE future of a united opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is set to be decided in the coming few weeks as negotiators tasked to chart the way forward are due to make contact with the leadership of both factions anytime from this week, sources close to the negotiations have revealed.

The negotiations, which were initially meant to come up with an amicable separation of the MDC, are now likely to focus on reconciliation after both sides indicated that there was no way the opposition could tackle Zanu PF from a divided position.

Sources close to the Arthur Mutambara faction said Bulawayo South member of parliament, David Coltart, was leading an initiative to reconcile the two camps.

Coltart this week confirmed that he was pushing for either reconciliation or an amicable break-up of the party without involving the courts.

“I have made it known to (Morgan) Tsvangirai and (Gibson) Sibanda that I am committed to a process of mediation and I have written to both camps with proposals on how we could go about it. Democracy in Zimbabwe will never be brought about by a divided opposition,” Coltart said.

The MDC split in October last year over whether or not to participate in the senate election.

Coltart could not be drawn into revealing what other people were working on the initiative, only saying he could not do it by himself.

“This has to be done with others as the process will need negotiations and compromises,” he said.

Coltart said he had indicated to the two camps that there are respected people who should be engaged to resolve the feud amicably.

Spokesperson for Mutambara’s group Paul Themba Nyathi, when contacted this week said he was aware of plans towards reconciling the two factions but said it was premature to comment.

“There are such plans but it is too early to talk of reconciliation at the moment. It is clear that we cannot afford current divisions,” Nyathi said.

Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson for Tsvangirai’s camp, however dismissed the reconciliation overtures saying there was only one MDC, the anti-senate one.

“We are aware of Coltart’s plans but we do not know what he is talking about when he talks of reconciliation and amicable divorce of the two parties,” said Chamisa. “The MDC is united. We only have party officials who left to form another party and we will not discuss that.”

Sources within the opposition said seasoned politician Washington Sansole and human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa were being touted as likely mediators in the crisis.

Coltart confirmed that Mtetwa and Sansole were credible people to lead the negotiations.

“There are people like Mtetwa and Sansole that could be engaged and if they are, they will be the right people to look at the current differences in the opposition,” Coltart said.

Correspondence in the possession of the Zimbabwe Independent, written to Tsvangirai and Sibanda by Coltart, laid out a plan for solving the crisis in the fractured MDC.

The letters explain that pro-senate secretary-general Welshman Ncube and the anti-senate faction’s Tendai Biti held informal discussions on likely ways of separating amicably but no solution was reached at the meeting.

Coltart in the letters said if the current problems in the MDC were solved through the courts, the government would decide to the detriment of opposition politics, who it wanted to work with.

“If the vying claims to legitimacy are not settled by mediation, they will have to be settled by the courts,” said Coltart in one of the letters.

“If the Zimbabwean courts are entrusted with the role of settling these issues, that in itself will play directly into the hands of the Mugabe regime.

“If both factions cannot agree to settle these disputes they will in essence give the regime the power to decide through the courts how long they want this conflict to go on for and who ultimately they want to deal with,” he said.

“Furthermore, court proceedings will be extremely expensive both financially and politically. I fully expect that during the next two years the Zimbabwean public will be subjected to the bizarre spectacle of the two factions fighting each other in court,” he said.

Coltart said issues that need to be addressed, in the event that there is no reconciliation, include deciding on who continues to use the party name, logo, slogans, physical assets, monetary assets and the fate of the party’s members of parliament.

“During the last six years the MDC has acquired substantial assets including Harvest House, other immovable properties elsewhere in the country, motor vehicles, computers and furniture. These properties are worth billions of dollars,” Coltart said.

“The temptation of course will be to adopt a winner-take-all mentality but this will inevitably result in protracted litigation. The attempted eviction of either party from the premises they currently occupy will be met with spoliation proceedings,” he said.

“Because those proceedings will only be able to be decided by a determination as to which faction is the legitimate MDC, which in turn will involve trial proceedings (because the facts will inevitably be in dispute), they will be long, drawn out, fractious and expensive affairs. I doubt very much whether a final determination will be reached within two years,” he said.

On the issue of MPs, Coltart said according to Section 41 (1)e of the Zimbabwe Constitution, an MP can only be forced to step down when he or she ceases to be a member of the political party on whose ticket he was elected.

Coltart said the concerned party would then have to write to the Speaker for the MP to cease representing it in parliament. Coltart said it would be folly for either of the factions to claim to have expelled MPs not in their camp.

by: Loughty Dube

Financial Gazette

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has poured cold water on prospects of a speedy reunification with a splinter faction of the party despite a congress resolution that the fractious party works “for the unity of all genuine cadres to the struggle.”

The former trade unionist, who was reinvigorated by the support of over 15 800 delegates who attended his camp’s congress and reaffirmed his leadership at the weekend, appears eager to lead the MDC in a war of attrition against his former colleagues now led by polished academic Arthur Mutambara. But analysts have warned that only a united opposition can dislodge the ruling party from government. ZANU PF, which has remained intact despite being driven by factionalism, has further consolidated its grip on power since the MDC’s October 12 split. Former University of Zimbabwe student leader Mutambara has made overtures for the reunification of the party, which split right down the middle following the emergence of sharp differences over participation in the November 2005 senate elections. Hopes for a détente were raised last Sunday when resolutions read out by newly elected party secretary general Tendai Biti did not include the expulsion of Gibson Sibanda, Welshman Ncube, Gift Chimanikire, Gertrude Stevenson, Paul Themba Nyathi and a host of MDC Members of Parliament who have thrown their weight behind the splinter faction. It had been speculated that the omission of the expulsion resolutions had left the door open for re-engagement between the two factions. The party had, prior to the reading of the resolutions, passed a resolution to expel Sibanda, Ncube, Stevenson and Chimanikire, while giving a 14-day ultimatum to all ‘rebel’ MPs to submit themselves to the party’s disciplinary process. Failure to do so would lead to expulsion, the congress resolved. “What I know is congress resolved that they were dismissed from the MDC. We wish them well wherever they are. In fact I prefer not to talk about them,” declared Tsvangirai as he categorically ruled out unity between the two factions. The opposition leader, President Robert Mugabe’s most serious challenger since independence in 1980, has, however, sent conflicting signals over the contentious subject. In his opening remarks on Saturday, a conciliatory Tsvangirai magnanimously acknowledged the pioneering work of his estranged colleagues. “Allow me, congress, to note the work done by my colleagues who have chosen not to be with us today, but who pioneered and contributed to the growth of the MDC and this democracy project together with us for years. We say to you all: Thank you for your contribution to this struggle. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for risking life and limb to try and rebuild Zimbabwe. We have not forgotten that contribution. You taught us valuable lessons.” If Tsvangirai sounded valedictory in his message to his former comrades, it is perhaps because he believes the party’s split was, as he said in the same speech, a “temporary diversion.” He seems to view his rivals in the other MDC camp as inconsequential comrades who have fallen by the wayside and can be packed off nonchalantly. “I am happy to note that we have dealt with this temporary diversion by surrendering the party back to you today. You are the rightful owners of the MDC. The choice is up to you. “You have to take corrective measures and sort out the leadership squabbles at the top,” Tsvangirai thundered to applause. However, when he stood up to make his acceptance speech and formally introduce the new leadership after Sunday’s elections, Tsvangirai said the new leadership was tasked with establishing unity within the party, saying: “These men and women have the responsibility to reunite the MDC.” Political commentator John Makumbe said Tsvangirai’s attitude towards his rivals had clearly hardened after the weekend congress. “The attitude seems to have hardened. Tsvangirai’s camp has demonstrated that they may not have money, but they have the support of the membership. “It could be a bit difficult to reconcile the two, unless Mutambara gets off his high horse and admits that Morgan is the president of the MDC. Mutambara will have to work with Morgan as a regular member of the party,” Makumbe said. Takura Zhangazha of the Media Institute of Southern Africa said the fact that the weekend congress had strengthened Tsvangirai’s hand meant prospects for reunification with the Mutambara faction were dimmer. “Tsvangirai’s faction feels triumphant. Any potential for reunification might arise if the other faction succumbs to the dictates of the Tsvangirai faction, but they are still defiant and have resolved to go it alone. “The differences are too sharp and they are personal, not based on principle,” Zhangazha said. “They are going to fight each other, but that’s more like lofty politics and we will see legal challenges which, however, will play into ZANU PF’s hands.” Dave Coltart, the legal brains behind the MDC over the past six years, has proposed an amicable divorce to avoid a protracted court process. “What deeply concerns me at present is the attitude, which appears to be adopted by both sides that only their faction is the legitimate MDC. I have also been concerned by the intolerance displayed by both sides towards each other; it appears that both sides refuse to recognise that the other side has the right to exist. “If the vying claims to legitimacy are not settled by mediation they will have to be settled in the courts. If the Zimbabwean courts are entrusted with the role of settling these issues that in itself will play directly into the hands of the Mugabe regime,” Coltart wrote in letters to Tsvangirai and Sibanda last month. He has also warned against the expulsion of the MDC’s MPs by either faction, saying this would precipitate by-elections each camp could scarcely afford.

By Andnetwork .com

Former Matabeleland North Governor, Mr Welshman Mabhena, who last week distanced himself from the MDC faction led by Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, has reportedly been nominated for the post of vice-president of the group, which Makokoba legislator, Ms Thokozani Khuphe, hoped to win, it emerged yesterday.

The faction’s spokesman, Mr Nelson Chamisa, who is tipped to land the post of secretary for information and publicity, confirmed that nominations from the provinces had started rolling in ahead of the group’s congress to be held in Harare this weekend with 13 000 delegates expected to attend.

He would not be drawn into releasing names of the members of the group that have been nominated to assume the top leadership of the faction.

“What I can tell you is that the speculation on the nomination process and the names that are being thrown around are pretty within the realm of speculative reality. We have agreed that we will not release the names for fear of prejudicing the independence of the electoral process and, by the way, even on the day of the elections people can be nominated from the floor to contest certain positions, ” he said.

However, reports on a website and sources yesterday said Mr Mabhena, a former Zanu(PF) politburo member dropped from the Government in 2000, was nominated by Manicaland province ahead of elections at the faction’s congress this weekend. As part of the faction’s ethnic powersharing act, the vice-presidency has been reserved for someone from the Matabeleland region.

Ms Khuphe is reported to command support from all provinces except Manicaland which threw its weight behind Mr Mabhena and Midlands North which is reported to be backing Ms Gertrude Mthombeni, who is Ms Khuphe’s former ally in the women’s section of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

This leaves the Matobo legislator, Mr Lovemore Moyo, who had also been linked to the position, in the cold. Although there were earlier reports suggesting that Mr Mabhena was being “courted” by the leadership of the faction to be vice president as part of the group’s quest to infuse “credible leadership from Matabeleland” into its structures and gain lost ground in the region, sources said he was likely to lose as the faction was hardpressed at the same time to have some “gender balance”.

The appointment of Cde Mujuru as one of the two Vice Presidents of the country and Second secretaries of Zanu(PF) seems to have prompted an outcry from the women’s league of the MDC faction, for the need to emulate the ruling party on the gender composition of the leadership of the group.

Last week, Mr Mabhena said he had not been approached to stand in the elections and said he was not a member of MDC, which he described as lacking an ideology that people could identify with.

“We were sympathisers not members. We liked what they were doing not what is happening now,” he told Chronicle last week. Efforts to get a comment Mr Mabhena yesterday were fruitless as he was reported to be “away”.

Sources said former legislator for Chimanimani, Roy Bennett, who has been linked to last week’s arms cache in Mutare and served a year jail term for contempt of Parliament after assaulting the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, in the august house, was also likely to land the post of treasurer general.

Lawyer and member of the House of Assembly, Mr Tendai Biti, who at one time was reportedly contemplating crossing the floor to join the proSenate group is being tipped to shrug off a challenge from Mr Tapiwa Mashakada to claim the secretary general position.

The leader of the faction, Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Isaac Matongo are likely to sail through unopposed as president and national chairman respectively. Bulawayo South legislator and former MDC secretary for legal affairs, Mr David Coltart, who turned down an offer to be committee member in the proSenate group led by Professor Arthur Mutambara, after being elected in absentia, is not likely to be part of the weekend’s proceedings in the Tsvangirai camp.

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.

The Herald
Herald Reporter

As the feuding MDC factions head for a final split with the election of a new president by one of the camps set for Sunday, the party’s secretary for legal affairs, Mr David Coltart has come up with what he calls a “five-point plan” to manage an amicable split.

Regarding his proposal, Mr Coltart, who has refused to align himself to either camp, indicated yesterday that he was still consulting with leaders of both factions but had proposed that both camps agree on:

– the addition of a suffix or prefix to their party names so that no group has an unfair advantage over another;

– how to share party properties;

– neither faction approaching the Speaker of Parliament seeking the removal of any MPs to precipitate by-elections;

– neither group using the MDC’s open palm symbol as that might give them an unfair advantage; and

– the groups reaching an agreement on the use of party slogans.

The troubled opposition party – whose long-simmering disagreements were brought to the fore by sharp differences over participation in last year’s Senate elections – was torn into two openly antagonistic camps that are scheduled to hold separate congresses over the next four weeks.

The rift is bound to widen as the camp led by deposed leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is set to lose out on the $8 billion in State funds the party got under the Political Parties Finance Act since the Gibson Sibanda-led group is adamant that it is the bona fide MDC.

The development follows communication sent to party secretary general Professor Welshman Ncube by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, advising him of Government’s intention to release the MDC share to him.

Government allocated $20 billion this year to the two eligible parliamentary political parties – MDC and Zanu-PF – to be shared according to each party’s parliamentary representation.

Sources in the Sibanda camp said they would not release any money to the pro-Tsvangirai cabal.

“Why would we give money to people who have left the party? They have since ceased to be party members by virtue of them continuing to follow a leader who has been expelled from the party,” said a high-ranking official in the Sibanda faction in apparent reference to Mr Tsvangirai.

Prof Ncube was evasive on the issue of funds yesterday, referring questions to MDC national treasurer Mr Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, who could not be reached for comment.

Mr Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Mr William Bango, accused the Sibanda-led faction of looting party property, including the State funds.

He said the action his group would take would be determined by their congress set for next month.

“Mr Tsvangirai said when he formed the MDC with (Mr) Sibanda (who was elected party deputy president) and (Mr Isaac) Matongo (who became national chairman) in 1999, they had a capital base of $200 million and the view is that money is not the heart and soul of the party. The party will move ahead with or without the money from Government.

“He (Mr Tsvangirai) still maintains that the funds are from taxpayers’ money and that we, as a party, are entitled to it.

“However, the issue of party assets and other benefits that include the money would be dealt with at the congress,” Mr Bango said.

Meanwhile, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said it would attend both MDC congresses and would deliver solidarity messages to both.

In a statement, NCA chairman Dr Lovemore Madhuku pledged support for both factions.

“The NCA will treat each of the political parties in the same way it treats other political parties. Any Zimbabwean political party, whatever its history, is free to join and participate in the activities of the NCA as long as it shares the NCA’s beliefs,” said Dr Madhuku.

“However, it is the NCA’s experience that not every political party which joins the NCA puts the same effort in the struggle for a new constitution.

“The NCA will, therefore, work closely with those political parties who, by action on the ground, show a genuine commitment to the struggle for a new, people-driven constitution.”

Peta Thornycroft

The recent split in Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change has the country’s opposition in disarray. However, a potential new leader has moved into view.
Arthur Mutambara is a former student leader who is now recognized as one of Africa’s most prominent scientists.

Fifteen years ago at the University of Zimbabwe he lead the student opposition to the ruling Zanu PF.

According to records at the university he was a brilliant engineering student, who won every scholarship he applied for.

After completing his doctorate at Britain’s Oxford University he went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became professor at several other universities in the United States. Unlike many African academics, Mutambara was always determined to return to Africa.

Over the weekend he arrived back in Zimbabwe from Johannesburg where he heads up an African scientific institution for talks with leaders of one faction of the MDC. Some in this faction want him to make himself available as a candidate for the top job, as president.

Late Monday he confirmed his re-entry into Zimbabwe politics, and said he hoped the enthusiasm of a new leadership which he said was untainted by current disagreements, would make unification of the two factions of the MDC possible.
According to the MDC’s constitution any one of the 12 provinces would have to nominate him and authorized delegates to the party’s congress next Sunday will vote for a new president.

Should he get the necessary nomination, and win the vote, analysts say his political past, intellectual prowess and reputation as a leader, would do much to revive Zimbabwe’s stalled opposition politics and could lead to the two factions re-uniting.
The faction of the MDC lead by party president Morgan Tsvangirai declined to comment on Mutambara’s sudden re-entry into Zimbabwe’s opposition political scenario.

Tsvangirai’s faction is holding its congress next month, but he is certain to be the only candidate for the top job.

The MDC split last October over adherence to the party’s constitution.
Tsvangirai said that even though a narrow majority of party executives voted to participate in the first ever elections for a senate last November, the MDC should not take part.

He said participation was a waste of time and money and the electoral playing field was not level.

Most of the MDC’s top leaders rebelled against him, saying he had defied the party’s constitution.

The party split into two factions with both declaring themselves to be authentic.
A senior MDC official, legal secretary David Coltart, who has remained outside of either faction is trying to arrange what he describes as an “amicable” divorce between the two sides.

New Zimbabwe

A FACTION of Zimbabwe’s divided opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) loyal to party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has petitioned Zimbabwe’s Speaker of Parliament to ignore parliamentary appointments made by an opposition faction last week.

Innocent Gonese, was the MDC’s parliamentary chief whip until a faction loyal to Tsvangirai’s deputy, Gibson Sibanda, replaced him with Kwekwe MP Blessing Chebundo soon after gaining control of the parliamentary party last week.

Sibanda also unveiled a new shadow cabinet. The group claims the support of 23 MPs from the 41 MDC MPs in Zimbabwe’s parliament.

Parliamentary sources told New Zimbabwe.com Thursday that Gonese had written to John Nkomo, the Speaker of Parliament, urging him to ignore the appointments and “maintain the status quo”.

“Gonese basically urged the Speaker to maintain the status quo until advised otherwise,” said one parliamentary source.

He added: “The sum total of this development is that it places the Speaker in a quandary as to which side to listen to, having received two conflicting claims from two groups from the same party.”

Nkomo and his deputy Kumbirai Kangai were not in Parliament this week and it remains unclear if Gonese’s intervention will be taken seriously.

New Zimbabwe.com understands that Bulawayo South MP, David Coltart, who has declined to align himself with any of the factions is approaching both groups with a five-point plan to secure an “amicable divorce”.

The areas that the two groups need to agree on include:

o The addition of a suffix or prefix by both groups to the party name so that one group does not have an unfair advantage through the use of the party name.

o Agreeing on how to share the party properties

o Agreeing that neither faction will approach the Speaker seeking the removal of any MPs and precipitating by-elections

o Agreeing that neither group will use the MDC’s open hand symbol as that may give the other group unfair advantage

o Reaching an agreement on the use of party slogans (although this is considered of lesser significance)

A ruling Zanu PF MP watching the developments in the MDC warned that short of an amicable solution to the party’s internal wrangling, Zimbabweans could soon be marching to vote in by elections across the country.

“If they don’t handle this situation carefully, by elections seem certain,” the MP who declined to be named said. “One group might target the other and ask the Speaker to declare certain seats vacant. Instead of having by elections in a few seats, we could end up with by elections right across the country and Zanu PF will emerge the biggest winner.”