Morgan Tsvangirai fighting for survival

ZIMBABWE's leading opposition political figure Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured) is fighting for survival within his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T), a party he helped to found in 1999.

Tsvangirai, who has been at the helm for nearly 15 years, is facing a barrage of tough questions over his defeat in last year's elections and personal indiscretions with multiple lovers in the recent past.

His survival bid, which comes at a time when the MDC-T should be turning the heat on President Robert Mugabe, has unintentionally removed pressure off the incumbent and his Zanu-PF party, which has its own hands full in its attempts to revive the economy. A few years ago, Tsvangirai's leadership was unquestioned.

He rose to the centre-stage as President Mugabe's strongest political opponent from being the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. His charisma had a magnetic effect on the generality of Zimbabweans including various interest groups such as the academia and civil society, leading to the MDC-T's star shinning bright.

A former union leader, Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party, in partnership with the National Constitutional Assembly, pulled off their first biggest upset against President Mugabe when they successfully campaigned for a no vote in a referendum held in 2000. The MDC-T was to later scoop several seats in Parliament the same year.

Although Tsvangirai lost his first election contest in 2002, he still remained a darling to the masses and caught the eye of the international community, with his "Mugabe must go" mantra.

A split in 2005 of his party left him unscathed, with key allies in the MDC-T gathering around him in support - while the party pressed on with its mission of "achieving democratic change". The 2008 election in which Tsvangirai defeated President Mugabe in the first round of voting forced the incumbent to eventually resort to violence in order to claw his way back into power.

This was seen by many as an indicator of the near possibility of the MDC-T in dislodging Zanu-PF from power. Attesting to this, was the MDC-T's majority control of Parliament in 2008 - a feat in Zimbabwe's political history which had never been achieved. Hopes that the MDC-T would continue to pile pressure on President Mugabe, however, fizzled during its four-year stint in the power sharing government in which Tsvangirai, then the Prime Minister appeared to warm up to President Mugabe.

Several MDC-T party officials also came under fire for joining the gravy train and were accused of corruption. But it was last year's decision to enter an election - without key political reforms in place - that has set off murmurings against Tsvangirai although he argues that the decision to enter the polls was made collectively and he must not take the blame alone.

Now the MDC-T is split on whether to retain Tsvangirai as party leader, while his string of affairs with multiple sexual partners are seen to have eroded the party's standing in the court of public opinion. Elton Mangoma, the MDC-T's deputy treasurer-general recently joined the growing list of party bigwigs who include Roy Bennett, Eddie Cross, Ian Kay and Elias Mudzuri who want Tsvangirai to step down.

Mangoma argues that stepping down now would be a noble thing for Tsvangirai to do and would help preserve his legacy. In a recent interview with the Financial Gazette Mangoma said he could not speculate if Tsvangirai would heed his calls. "Only he can respond to what I have asked him to do. I wrote to him in a personal capacity and I don't know if there is enough displeasure within the party to force him out," Mangoma said.

Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai's spokesperson, said the debate around the leadership of the party was evidence of a vibrant and thriving democracy in the MDC-T. "That several officials and leaders in the party, lately deputy treasurer-general Mangoma, have publicly spoken about the need for leadership renewal and their wish to lead the MDC-T speaks to thriving and evident democracy in the party…," said Tamborinyoka.

Under the MDC-T's constitution, Tsvangirai, who is seeing off his third term as party leader remains in charge until the next elective congress set for April 2016.

Tsvangirai appears likely to seek a fourth term from the congress. Despite his flagging fortunes, he is still seen to wield enormous support among the grassroots. The women and youth leagues of the party have quickly come out to endorse him as party leader, but political commentators have indicated that popularity alone would not be enough to unite the MDC-T.

"The MDC-T activists need to understand that even if they love Tsvangirai to the bone marrow, their support alone is not sufficient to deliver an election victory for the MDC-T. An MDC-T leader also needs to instil confidence in the electorate," said Claire Matombo, a political commentator and MDC-T activist. For a man who has crisscrossed the world, earned international recognition as a human rights defender and was shortlisted for a Nobel Peace prize award, an exit from the political stage hrough a palace coup would be an abrupt departure and would have fallen short of his decade-long mission that "Mugabe must go".

Speaking at the occasion of his 90th birthday, President Mugabe said the MDC-T had been struck by lightning since they lost last year's elections.

"They (opponents) did not know what hit them, it was Chaminuka's lightning. The MDC-T was left on the floor utterly baffled. Even Western powers were left baffled by the resounding victory," said President Mugabe. "It was a thunderous and resounding voice by the people. The people and Zanu-PF are one, inseparable. When you talk to the people, the majority of them are Zanu-PF."