MDC to boycott senate polls

By Lance Guma
12 October 2005

The Movement for Democratic Change has decided not to participate in senate elections set for the 26th of November this year. Party leader Morgan Tsvangirai made the announcement Wednesday at a press conference in Harare. The move deals a blow to Zanu PF’s hopes of having the opposition give legitimacy to the process by participating.

The National Council met to deliberate amidst heated debate, and a split in the votes made the decision even harder. 6 provinces supported participation while another 6 were against. Both the women’s and youth assemblies rejected participation and might have done enough to sway the ultimate decision. Tsvangirai said any MDC member that participates in the election faces automatic expulsion from the party.

The MDC has since issued an instruction to all its structures to respect the boycott. National Youth Chairman, Nelson Chamisa was very pleased with the outcome saying they were tired of shambolic elections characterized by fraud. He says the MDC does not support piecemeal changes to the constitution and prefer a holistic approach, which involves everyone. The party could not ‘indicate left and then turn right’.

He accused government of imposing its will on the people and reckons time has come for the opposition to draw a line in the sand and mark an end to dictatorship. The state media and other allied websites had been running stories suggesting the MDC will participate in the senate elections. This has proved false and a measure of how desperately Zanu PF wanted them to participate.

Zanu PF rammed through parliament, constitutional amendment number 17, under which it introduced a 66 member senate - amongst other things. Observers have criticized it as a warehouse for geriatric politicians who have outlived their usefulness but remain central in Mugabe’s patronage system.