Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe politics must show maturity
02 Dec 2018 at 12:18hrs | Views
The MDC - undoubtedly the country's biggest opposition party - had its supporters out on the streets of the capital in a demonstration they had branded as the mother of all protests.
On one hand, the fact that the party got an opportunity to gather and march without any hindrance shows that indeed, Zimbabwe has changed a bit since the departure of former president Robert Mugabe - who had ruled the country for 37 uninterrupted years since independence from the British in 1980.
On the other hand, it provided the opposition party with an opportunity to "cleanse" itself, so to say. At the end of the day, the intended receiver of the MDC message was no longer President Emmerson Mnangagwa but one of the party's longest-serving members, vice president Elias Mudzuri.
There is no doubt that party president Nelson Chamisa, who had appeared to have stopped supporters from hounding Mudzuri out of the party, must have wanted a stage bigger than a party meeting to elbow out one of his potential challengers.
This modus operandi has been adopted from Zanu-PF, which has had an illustrious history of leaders who push out potential challengers in the run up to internal party processes like congresses.
Party supporters are unwittingly used to fight internal party battles.
In the past, Zanu-PF has used the million-man march, thank you rallies among others, to push internal selfish personal agendas.
Those who have been following Zimbabwean politics closely will be able to tell that there was another reason for the MDC gathering - that of consolidating Chamisa's position as leader of the party.
Apparently, in the past few months, internal fissures have been simmering with indications that Mudzuri and current secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora want to throw their hats into the ring at the party's congress next year.
Zimbabweans, whichever political party they may support have been very gullible over the years, letting leaders of their parties use them, unsuspectingly to rubber stamp their whims.
As things stand, it is fairly obvious that the two - Mwonzora and Chamisa are headed towards expulsion from the MDC.
For Chamisa, going to congress would actually consolidate his position and not scuttling internal party elections. This would show that he indeed is pursuing democratic principles.
But again, well, this was obviously going to be a tall order for the 40-year-old politician, who - following the death of MDC founding president Morgan Tsvangirai - avoided congress where he would have faced then co-vice president Thokozani Khupe.
On one hand, the fact that the party got an opportunity to gather and march without any hindrance shows that indeed, Zimbabwe has changed a bit since the departure of former president Robert Mugabe - who had ruled the country for 37 uninterrupted years since independence from the British in 1980.
On the other hand, it provided the opposition party with an opportunity to "cleanse" itself, so to say. At the end of the day, the intended receiver of the MDC message was no longer President Emmerson Mnangagwa but one of the party's longest-serving members, vice president Elias Mudzuri.
There is no doubt that party president Nelson Chamisa, who had appeared to have stopped supporters from hounding Mudzuri out of the party, must have wanted a stage bigger than a party meeting to elbow out one of his potential challengers.
This modus operandi has been adopted from Zanu-PF, which has had an illustrious history of leaders who push out potential challengers in the run up to internal party processes like congresses.
Party supporters are unwittingly used to fight internal party battles.
In the past, Zanu-PF has used the million-man march, thank you rallies among others, to push internal selfish personal agendas.
Those who have been following Zimbabwean politics closely will be able to tell that there was another reason for the MDC gathering - that of consolidating Chamisa's position as leader of the party.
Apparently, in the past few months, internal fissures have been simmering with indications that Mudzuri and current secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora want to throw their hats into the ring at the party's congress next year.
Zimbabweans, whichever political party they may support have been very gullible over the years, letting leaders of their parties use them, unsuspectingly to rubber stamp their whims.
As things stand, it is fairly obvious that the two - Mwonzora and Chamisa are headed towards expulsion from the MDC.
For Chamisa, going to congress would actually consolidate his position and not scuttling internal party elections. This would show that he indeed is pursuing democratic principles.
But again, well, this was obviously going to be a tall order for the 40-year-old politician, who - following the death of MDC founding president Morgan Tsvangirai - avoided congress where he would have faced then co-vice president Thokozani Khupe.
Source - dailynews
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