'Rebellion imminent' in MDC-T over by-elections

AN unconfirmed number of MDC-T members are reportedly jostling for the vacant Parliamentary seats in Bulawayo, Tsholotsho and Kwekwe despite the opposition party's claims that it would boycott the June 10 by-elections.

Sources said another rebellion is imminent if the party's national council chooses to stick to a resolution of boycotting the by-elections.

The MDC-T national council will sit anytime this week and the issue of by-elections will be top on the agenda, sources said.

Zanu-PF has already stepped up preparations for the historic polls and is organising primary elections in areas where more than one candidate has shown interest in representing the revolutionary party.

Bulawayo province has set April 11 as the date for primary elections for Luveve, Pelandaba-Mpopoma, Pumula, Lobengula and Makokoba constituencies while the Midlands province has set April 10 for the Mbizo primary elections.

Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo will contest in the Tsholotsho North by-election on a Zanu-PF ticket after he was nominated unopposed. While there is order in the ruling party, the opposite is true for MDC-T which has remained resolute up to this day on its stance to boycott the by-elections.

MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu confirmed that the National Council would meet some time this week. He said party members jostling for the seats could be wasting their time. "The National Council is meeting this week and as for jostling, yes they might jostle but our position still stands. We're sticking by the congress resolution of boycotting any election," said Gutu.

However, sources in the MDC-T said indications on the ground were that members wanted the party to participate in the forthcoming by-elections and field candidates.

On the other hand, some members of the opposition party have indicated their willingness to stand as independent candidates if the party refuses to participate in the by-elections.

"I'm hoping that the national council agrees that we participate in the forthcoming by-elections. If they stand by their boycott stance, some of us will be forced to contest as independent candidates. It's not easy but we're tired of seeing other parties participating in elections while we stand aside and look," said a MDC-T top official on condition of anonymity.

Twenty-one former MDC-T legislators led by Tendai Biti were last month expelled from Parliament and had their seats declared vacant after they crossed over to the newly formed MDC Renewal.

The fired MPs from Matabeleland and the Midlands are Reggie Moyo (Luveve), Bekithemba Nyathi (Pelandaba-Mpopoma), Albert Mhlanga (Pumula), Samuel Sipepa Nkomo (Lobengula), Roseline Nkomo (Tsholotsho North), Settlement Chikwinya (Mbizo) and Gorden Moyo (Makokoba).

The decision to sack the legislators, which affected four senators and 17 MPs, followed a request by the MDC-T which wrote to Parliament on March 6 advising that the legislators had severed their relationship with the country's main opposition party.

The forthcoming by-elections could see the ruling Zanu-PF adding on to its 255 seats and strengthen its dominance in local politics. Zanu-PF is hugely expected to make a clean sweep of all the 14 seats available for contest in the by-elections after the MDC formations' threats of boycotting the polls citing an uneven playing ground.

The revolutionary party already has a two-thirds majority in Parliament with the main opposition MDC-T trailing far behind.