An Agenda for the MDC-T

On the 1st of November the MDC concluded one of the most historically defining congresses in its history. This congress came against the bedrock of a needless rebellion led by the so called Renewal Team. The timing and manner of this rebellion was clearly meant to cripple the MDC and ostracise its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Having failed to dislodge Morgan Tsvangirai the only hope for the so called Renewal Team was a failed congress. However in the face of a very successful and orderly congress the new hope for both the Renewal Team and Zanu-PF now lies in the new leadership failing in its duty to lead the people of Zimbabwe to victory. That a huge responsibility lies on the shoulders of the new leadership to deliver is therefore beyond question.

The first important task for the new leadership is to unite the party and therefore strengthen it as a credible change agent. Already both the Renewal Team and Zanu-PF have been extending fake love and sympathy to some of our leaders who did not make it at congress. This has been done through perpetuating a narrative that the leaders who did not win the elections were victims of manipulation of the electoral process by the top leadership of the party and that they are better off outside the MDC. Instead of applauding the winners both the private and public press pushing the Renewal Team and Zanu-PF agenda have sought to convince these leaders that they are hated and therefore are future-less in the MDC. This of course is not true. Therefore the new leadership of the MDC has to accommodate those who did not win the elections and involve them actively in the programs of the party. The fact that a person has not succeeded in an election does not mean that they have no role to play. This means therefore that all pre-election acrimony has to be eliminated. The leadership of the MDC is in the process of accommodating all of our leaders and cadres who did not make it in the elections.

The success of the party will depend on its structural strength. Accordingly, the next task for the party is to make sure that all its structures are regularised and strengthened. These structures must also be accounted for through the maintenance of a credible and accessible database of all leaders at all levels. Further, because the congress resolved to change the rules relating to primary elections the database of all party members has to be updated and made accessible. MDC members have both rights and obligations. One of these obligations is the payment of membership subscriptions by each member and therefore underwrite the struggle. The obligation of the leadership is to ensure that the subscriptions are followed up and properly and transparently accounted for. Already a serious program to strengthen the Party structures is under way.

One of the key aspects of an organisation is its ability to maintain discipline within itself. This discipline starts with leadership doing all that it has been mandated to do. Therefore all congress resolutions will be speedily followed up and implemented irrespective of whether the individual leader agreed with the resolutions or not. Another aspect of discipline by the leadership is to ensure that all the members rights are accorded to them and respected. In return all members must observe all the obligations due by them. Part of the resolutions of congress was to recall all those Members of Parliament who have left us to form their own party. This has already been done and the necessary correspondence has been sent to the Parliamentary authorities.

To maintain its focus the MDC must return to its founding values. Both the leadership and the members of the MDC must constantly be reminded of these founding values. The MDC is a social democratic party founded among other things on the values of freedom, justice, equality, democracy, good governance and equal opportunity for all Zimbabwean people. It stands for the unity of purpose of all the progressive forces inside and outside of Zimbabwe. These founding values will act as a moral compass for the party to help it navigate through the Zimbabwean political labyrinth.

There is clearly no second coming for Robert Mugabe. Therefore the MDC is now preparing for the post Mugabe era and the new dynamics associated with that. It will be a huge mistake to plan on the assumption that Mugabe will continue to dominate the Zimbabwe political scene. There are encouraging signs that Zanu-PF is now imploding and is involved in serious internal purging of all people believed to be opponents of President Robert Mugabe. This democracy deficit in Zanu-PF has convinced many an MDC member of the justice of their cause.

The objective of the MDC is to attain governmental power through peaceful, democratic and constitutional means. The MDC is going to pursue the path of non-violence. In other words in the pursuance of its change agenda the MDC will never sacrifice the life or bodily integrity of any Zimbabwean. It will therefore work hard towards a peaceful transition to democracy.

The crisis in Zimbabwe is a three tier crisis; the crisis of legitimacy, crisis of governance and the crisis of expectations. Therefore, the party will work hard to mobilise all Zimbabweans to demand electoral reforms which in turn will ensure that all the future elections will truly reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe. Therefore the MDC lead the struggle for the implementation of the new constitution of Zimbabwe. The key provisions that ensure electoral justice have to be put into effect. One of these provisions is the provision that proscribes the involvement of the security services directly or indirectly in the electoral process.

The new administration will deal effectively with the welfare, capacitation and development of all the party cadres. This is meant to increase the morale of our cadres and provide key motivation of all our cadres. Serious programs are therefore being developed in this regard and will be rolled out shortly.

Since the formation of the MDC, a lot has changed in the Zimbabwean society justifying a change in tact on the part of the MDC. In particular the social base of the Zimbabwean society has changed over the years. Therefore methods which worked or messages which appealed to our people may no longer be as effective and as appealing as before. Our tactics must therefore be as dynamic as the changes in the social base of the Zimbabwean society.

The MDC has the capacity to win the next election. To that end it must start to prepare for these elections now. With enough preparations the MDC will be able to exploit the implosion within Zanu-PF which is going to get worse and worse. Victory is certain.