'MDC-T rebels' project doomed'

MDC legislator for Bulawayo constituency, Nicola Watson Brown, has labelled party rebels led by expelled secretary-general Tendai Biti as a group who have decided to throw themselves out of the party.

Brown, who is also an MDC national council executive member and party provincial treasurer, told the Daily News yesterday the future of the project was doomed.

"It is just merely a group of people who are leaving the party, people who in fact have chosen to put themselves out of the party," Brown said. "As a matter of fact, I don't believe Tendai Biti has people's appeal for the moment, which makes their project doomed."

The mainstream MDC, widely viewed as posing a stern threat to President Robert Mugabe's 34-year uninterrupted rule, is mired in fractious turmoil over calls for leadership renewal which culminated in divisions that have cleaved it into rival camps.

Brown viewed the current ructions panning out in the party as nothing other than a push for personal interests and questioned why divisions which are purely "grandstanding  of personal interests more than any other things should emerge  at this very critical moment in our party history".

Commenting on the Mandel debacle by a purported national council where Tsvangirai and his top executives were reportedly suspended, Brown said she was never informed of the event.

"I am a bona fide national council member but I was never informed or invited to the Mandel centre," she said, pointing out that even if she had been invited she was not going to attend unless it was constitutionally arranged.

Brown said there were a number of issues that made the whole meeting unconstitutional.

"Given what they did, they deserved to be expelled. I think the MDC T and its constitution are being abused by bad people. I have questioned why the Biti-led group would want to hang on to the party name which, according to them, has a bad perception."

Brown wondered why the group continues calling itself "MDC-T" when the last letter stands for ‘Tsvangirai' not ‘Team.'

She said the behaviour of the renewal faction was a clear departure from the party's struggle to unseat President Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party from power.

On the allegations that the renewal team is being propelled by western donors who are no longer interested in the leadership of Tsvangirai, Brown said this was a vague perception which the party has been stuck with since 2005 when it emerged.

"It is just a perception," she said.

Party supporters in Bulawayo were going to use the period from now up to the congress set for October to regroup and map the way forward. She said the MDC would re-examine its structures, go back to them and re-launch itself where the goals and objectives of the party can be clarified and solidified.

"We need to reaffirm ourselves and look into the principles, our values which are the unity of the people of Zimbabwe as Zimbabweans."