Discontent rising within Zanu PF over Mugabe candidacy
By Lance Guma
19 April 2007

Senior figures within the ruling Zanu PF party have been leaking information to the media suggesting Robert Mugabe’s reported endorsement as the 2008 presidential candidate is far from true. A report by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) says officials in the party dispute the official announcement that they backed Mugabes candidacy. Instead they have openly admitted that they merely failed to challenge the decision when it was foisted on them during a meeting. A 30th March meeting of the Central Committee is said to have sealed Mugabe’s candidacy but it now looks like there might be more political drama ahead, given the unpopularity of the decision.

Several meetings in both the Central Committee and Politburo have apparently avoided discussing Mugabe’s candidacy and have instead focused on issues like internal party reforms and the land reform exercise. IWPR reports that Zanu PF political commissar Elliot Manyika simply announced a series of resolutions, which were never discussed. These included issues like ‘the decision to hold simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections, a new procedure whereby parliament will select a successor if Mugabe resigns before the end of his next term, an increase in the number of parliamentary constituencies from 150 to 210, and the appointment of senators by proportional representation.’

Manyika is said to have declared that all the resolutions had been passed at the Zanu PF party conference last December. According to the source who spoke to IWPR, Manyika said the conference had pledged loyalty to the presidium and this was interpreted to mean the conference had endorsed Mugabe as the candidate for the 2008 elections. ‘We were taken by surprise, as we thought the matter would have been brought up for discussion and then endorsed, or we would have charted the way forward. But this was done deliberately to make sure that no one stood up to contradict it at a meeting being chaired by Mugabe himself.’