MDC members demand reinstatement of dismissed and resigned members

Members of the Welshman Ncube MDC appear to be summoning the party leadership to consider reinstating all dismissed and resigned party members at the same time pleading with party members in Matebeleland South to endorse Secretary General Priscillia Misihairabwi - Mushonga's stay in parliament on a Matebeleland South ticket.

In a party internal document leaked to this paper yesterday, members in a whatsapp chat group for the party seem to be in agreement that the party flowed in its systems in coming up with the list of candidates for proportional representation and so trying to reverse the decision now will not be of any good to the party. The document suggest that party members must just go on and endorse Mushonga's stay in parliament while they go back to revisit the systems in place for the future.

The document however does not forgive the party leadership for failing to listen to grassroot structures who demanded that the issue be brought down to the province concerned for endorsement before the final list of candidates was presented to nomination court. According to the document the issue was a thorn to the party from as early as December last year and party leadership ignored the calls from the structures to sort the issue out.

Several members of the MDC have left the party either by dismissal or by resignation over the issue of Mushonga being in parliament on a Matebeleland South ticket while she is based in Harare. High profile members like Qhubani Moyo, Siyabonga Malandu Ncube, Edward Mukhosi, Charles Mpofu and Petros Mukwena have fallen off the so called green train as a result of the issue. This demand by members if adhered to looks like the only logical means the MDC would ever hope to use to recover from the downward fall it has been experiencing. Going into the July 31 elections the MDC looked like the most organised and fastest growing party of all three main parties in the country. The election result giving the party a 2% vote appears to have shocked the party of predominantly young and inexperienced politicians with a lot of potential. While it was expected that its senior members were to encourage the young vibrant politicians, the seniors somehow led the confusion in the party while the younger ones held fort. This call could therefore signal the beginning of a new dawn for the vibrant party.