MDC rebellion crumbles as 10 out of 12 provinces back Tsvangirai

By Lance Guma
21 October 2005

The rebellion against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, over whether to boycott the senate election, looks set to crumble after it was reported that 10 out of 12 party provinces put their backing firmly behind him. Even state radio, firmly controlled by the ruling party, admitted as much in their Thursday evening broadcasts. The turn of events follows vigorous campaigning by Tsvangirai, whose rallying call was that the billions of dollars about to be spent on the senate should be used in paying better wages to civil servants.

Only 4 provinces initially stood behind Tsvangirai, 6 others backed participation. 2 other provinces did not commit to a particular position thus creating a technical deadlock between the 12. In the last few days 4 pro-senate provinces have made a u-turn leaving Matabeleland South and Bulawayo isolated in supporting participation. The remaining provincial leaders are reportedly facing heated pressure from their districts to also support Tsvangirai.

While the consensus at provincial level is firmly in Tsvangirai’s favour, the problem remains his isolation inside the top six leadership ring. Observers say it’s no longer about the senate but a leadership dogfight and hence the impasse over a seemingly minor issue. Several meetings by the top six grouping have failed to take off thus prolonging the dispute. With nominations for the elections taking place on Monday a meeting reported to be scheduled for the weekend remains key in hopefully finally resolving the dispute.

Midlands South provincial spokesman, Dr Patrick Kombayi told Newsreel on Friday that 11 provinces were now behind the boycott and not 10. This after Matabeleland South allegedly switched sides leaving Bulawayo province as the sole willing participant. He refuted reports his province had made a u-turn saying they were never in support of participation from the beginning. Dr Kombayi accused those behind the Zanu PF ‘Tsholotsho coup’ of trying to do the same in the MDC as evidenced by the large sums of money floating around.