MDC Renewal saga affects all MDCs - Magaisa

Political Commentator who is the former MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai's adviser Alex Magaisa has warned the other MDC formations not to celebrate the problems that are affecting the MDC Renewal indicating that when ever each one of the formation has problems its a cause for Zanu PF to celebrate and the public media to go to town about it because they view all the MDC formations as one threat to the ruling party.

Through writing in his blog Magaisa said, "Now, while some MDC-T supporters might gloat over the calamity that has befallen their erstwhile colleagues at MDC Renewal Team, and while this is, perhaps, a natural reaction where there is a history of hostility between the formations, it should not be lost on them that the impact of this saga goes beyond MDC Renewal but hits the MDC family and the opposition generally."

He said in this regard, it is quite probable that to most ordinary people, Mangoma, Biti, Tsvangirai, Mwonzora, etc are quite simply "MDC people".

"In fact, The Herald and other Zanu PF-aligned media know this only too well, which is why a PR disaster for a formation of the MDC is good news for them because it hits at the broader brand of the MDC and the opposition," he said.

"The distinctions in their suffixes might matter a great deal to the political actors, but it wouldn't be surprising if this matters very little to the general public. To them, they are all simply "vanhu vaya veMDC" (the MDC people). This explains why when research units like Afrobarometer go out and ask the question "How much trust do you have in the opposition?" the answer reflects the public perceptions towards the opposition generally."

Magaisa said Zanu PF and the state media would have taken great delight in this particular story because it has themes – sexual irresponsibility, violence and moral decadence - which they have consistently tried to associate with the opposition.

"The propaganda machinery knows that it all feeds into the image which portrays the MDC as a party with a distorted moral compass," her said.

"In this regard, from a PR point of view, it does not matter whether it is MDC-T, MDC Renewal, MDC-N or any other MDC formation. The weakness is in the name, which they all share. But what the opposition leaders probably miss is that this point of commonality could also be their strength – since they are identified as one in the public consciousness, they might as well fight as one."

He also said as long as they share that common denominator, the shenanigans of one will be portrayed, and in many cases, will be read as the shenanigans of the MDC family and they will all suffer for it.

"So while some people may laugh and gloat over Mangoma's and the MDC Renewal's ‘moment of weakness', the real loser in the public consciousness is the MDC brand and all who are associated with it," said Magaisa. "Down in the depths of Dotito, Dzapasi and Madhlambudzi, all the villagers are told and believe is that those MDC leaders are at it again – they can't be trusted to provide moral leadership ..."