MDC UK to hold strategic planning workshop in Birmingham

By Tichaona Sibanda
25 May 2007

The first ever MDC strategic planning workshop to prepare for a new Zimbabwe will be held in Birmingham, UK on Saturday. Activists will examine various issues, including how the party could work with Zanu (PF) progressive forces.

Makusha Mugabe, a member of the MDC press unit in Birmingham, said the workshop is open to all card carrying members of the party in the UK and has a number of guest speakers lined-up who will present topics of major concerns to the opposition party.

In a post Mugabe transition era the MDC, aware of the consequences of being caught off guard, will specifically study the role of the security forces and how the party would relate to them.

‘We have professionals for each category that will discuss issues ranging from unity to how the MDC can maximize co-operation with other democratic forces. We will also have lawyers who will present a draft on the history of post-independence elections in Zimbabwe, the lessons learned and the way forward,’ Makusha Mugabe said.

In a free and fair election analysts believe Mugabe doesn’t stand a chance against a united opposition. Mugabe’s current term in office expires next year but he is reluctant to leave office and recently proposed running for another six-year term in 2008.

However support for the ruling Zanu (PF) leader in the country and within his own party is declining rapidly and several influential party officials are jockeying for the presidency. There are clear indications of unrest among the broader population and within the armed forces, the police and Zanu (PF).
While the end of Mugabe’s reign is long overdue, it will be no guarantee that a Zanu PF successor will prove more willing to support multi-party democracy or abandon the repressive economic and political policies that have led the country into its current crisis.