MDC leaders fail to find middle ground on senate race

By Tererai Karimakwenda
28 October 2005

The MDC’s top officials held crisis talks on Thursday as they attempted to resolve their differences over participation in the senate elections next month. The meeting was mediated by political commentator professor Brian Raftopolous and is reported to have been heated. When it was over, it became clear that they had only agreed to stop "acrimonious comments on the dispute", and the top leaders had agreed to meet again on Monday to seek common ground and the way forward.

Addressing the press after the heated meeting, Tsvangirai said they met because they had recognised the party’s objective to replace the Mugabe dictatorship. He also said the MDC management committee had called on members to "immediately refrain from all forms of threats, intimidation and violence against any official or member of the party because of the dispute over the senate election.

26 opposition officials registered for the poll under the MDC banner on Monday, despite a warning that they would not be recognised by the Tsvangirai camp, which insists the party is not taking part. The embattled leader 2 weeks ago ignored an executive council vote which narrowly favoured taking part in the controversial election. Leading the pro-senate camp is secretary general Welshman Ncube, who is reported to be as adamant about being in the senate race as Tsvangirai is against.

Much Masunda, who runs the Commercial Arbitration Centre, said the problem facing the MDC is that it has disparate groups with a common desire to remove Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF but without a common ideology. This is why they cannot decide on a common way forward. Masunda believes many of the politicians in Zimbabwe and the third world in general have no fallback position. He said they get into politics to make a living and not because they have an altruistic desire to do good for their people. According to Masunda, the endless cases of corruption that are exposed in Africa are a reflection of this tragic desire in the politicians who always ask: “What will I get out of it”.

As for the negotiations, Masunda said the mediators should indulge in shuttle diplomacy, meaning they first meet with each side alone before bringing them together. This helps to gain an understanding of what each group wants.