Opinion / Columnist
Tsvangirai must be added on 'targeted sanction' for systemic violence
17 Feb 2014 at 09:13hrs | Views
Democratic discourse and violence do not meet, mix or mingle. Reports of brutal attacks on MDC-T leadership, among them, deputy treasurer general Elton Mangoma and secretary general Tendai Biti, should be condemned in the strongest terms.
For a party that was "established on democratic ethos" to fail to understand the concept of leadership renewal and diversity of opinion is astounding. Party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose bootlickers have described him as "too democratic" should take the blame.
His critics have said the meeting of district leaders that he had called was not legally constituted and therefore unconstitutional. Tsvangirai's critics, before the meeting, claimed the gathering "had been called to "whip up emotions" and set the rank and file of the party against Mangoma.
The former Energy minister's crime is to have called for Tsvangirai top step-down because he has failed the party after being humiliated in three consecutive presidential bids over the past 15 years.
If Tsvangirai thinks the people who brutalised Mangoma, Biti and youth secretary general Promise Mkwananzi and others care about the "democratic party" then surely he is more foolish that what his detractors have said over the years. After 15 years at the helm of the MDC-T, and given the violence that ensued following the acrimonious split with ex-secretary general Welshman Ncube in 2005, Tsvangirai cannot extricate himself from this one.
If the US and its European allies have slapped Zanu-PF leaders with "targeted sanctions" for systemic violence and human rights abuses, those behind the latest spat of violence within the MDC-T and in this case Tsvangirai, cannot be culpable no matter how much he will scream, should be placed on the same list for the violence.
If the idea is to inculcate a culture of democracy and diverse opinion, then there is no reason why Tsvangirai et al should not be targeted for this atrocious act of betrayal.
Tsvangirai earlier this decade declared he wanted to remove President Robert Mugabe "violently if you do not go peacefully", and now he is trying to do the same on his kith and kin.
The chickens are coming home to roost. Tsvangirai should be made to account for the behaviour of his thugs, and because he is the principal convener of the meeting that turned violent, whatever criminal charge should be taken to his doorstep.
For a party that was "established on democratic ethos" to fail to understand the concept of leadership renewal and diversity of opinion is astounding. Party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose bootlickers have described him as "too democratic" should take the blame.
His critics have said the meeting of district leaders that he had called was not legally constituted and therefore unconstitutional. Tsvangirai's critics, before the meeting, claimed the gathering "had been called to "whip up emotions" and set the rank and file of the party against Mangoma.
The former Energy minister's crime is to have called for Tsvangirai top step-down because he has failed the party after being humiliated in three consecutive presidential bids over the past 15 years.
If the US and its European allies have slapped Zanu-PF leaders with "targeted sanctions" for systemic violence and human rights abuses, those behind the latest spat of violence within the MDC-T and in this case Tsvangirai, cannot be culpable no matter how much he will scream, should be placed on the same list for the violence.
If the idea is to inculcate a culture of democracy and diverse opinion, then there is no reason why Tsvangirai et al should not be targeted for this atrocious act of betrayal.
Tsvangirai earlier this decade declared he wanted to remove President Robert Mugabe "violently if you do not go peacefully", and now he is trying to do the same on his kith and kin.
The chickens are coming home to roost. Tsvangirai should be made to account for the behaviour of his thugs, and because he is the principal convener of the meeting that turned violent, whatever criminal charge should be taken to his doorstep.
Source - zimmail
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