'MDC-T will never win any election but will survive,' says Madhuku

NCA LEADER Professor Lovemore Madhuku has hit out at the MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, accusing him of helping foist on the country a constitution that was "more repressive" than the Lancaster House independence charter but says the MDC-T will survive, but will not win any election as they will survive as a weak party.

"I will never forgive Tsvangirai and his party for leaving the people with a heavier burden than before; they left us with a more repressive constitution than the old Lancaster house constitution," he said.

Madhuku said: "Zanu-PF will be defeated, there is a generational process taking place in the country. Zanu-PF is led by people who were in the liberation struggle and played a key role in the early years of independence, they have now outlived their usefulness and for that reason Zanu-PF will be out, there will be no Zanu-PF that will defeat our party because it's led by old people. They can't match us.

"The MDC-T will survive, but won't win the elections. They will survive as a weak party. There is no chance for the MDC-T in 2018. We are looking at ordinary young people in particular, we will be open to 14-year-olds, who will be 19 in 2018 and so we expect young people to move away from the politics of Zanu-PF versus MDC-T.

"We would love a situation where we are in government and giving Mugabe his pension. The President will not be having enough energy five years from now. He will have to retire; you can't have energy beyond 94. I wouldn't expect to stand in an election with Mugabe, it won't make sense, and we promise him better care than Zanu-PF can. He is safer in our hands. My message to him is he will be safer after 2018 in our hands.

Madhuku said that Tsvangirai still remains a close colleague even though they have differences.

"My main difference with him started with the joining of the inclusive government.

"It must not be forgotten that in 2008 we campaigned together and we campaigned for Tsvangirai, but immediately after they managed to get more votes than Zanu-PF in the Presidential race they agreed to be absorbed in an inclusive government where their role was ceremonial. I know they got a lot out of it, lots of properties; he himself stays in a government property he is negotiating to purchase. That's not the kind of framework of leadership we would have preferred.

We don't believe he has the same level of stamina to push the agenda that we started, that's our major difference."

Madhuku said the constitution reform agenda was a very big mistake on the part of the MDC-T.

"It showed that they stood for nothing. Imagine you have been campaigning for a new constitution and you get an opportunity and you undermine every principle that you purportedly stood for," said Madhuku.