Mutambara MDC say they are ready for unification talks

By Lance Guma
30 May 2006

The spokesman for the Arthur Mutambara MDC, Gabriel Chaibva has said they are ready for unification talks with the Morgan Tsvangirai MDC. Chaibva was responding to questions from Newsreel on whether they were going to field candidates for the forthcoming Chitungwiza and Kadoma mayoral elections. Although no date has been set for the poll the Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede announced the opening of the voters roll for inspection. He confirmed that they would field candidates in both elections in line with their February congress resolutions.

Chaibva says talks are ideal ‘but we should all get back to our founding values.’ He says they need to find unity on the basis of principles and not just convenience. He conceded that a fractured opposition was not the best scenario but they had no choice in the interim. Asked if the Budiriro by-election loss was not a clear enough message for their group he said it was in the interest of democracy to have many players. The election he argued showed they had people who believed in their vision. He warned that talk about unity from their leader Mutambara should not be construed as a sign of weakness.

Nelson Chamisa representing the Morgan Tsvangirai MDC poured cold water on Chaibva’s statements saying there were not interested in sideshows. ‘Our focus right now is on liberating the people of Zimbabwe and we cannot be dragged into the mud at every turn by these people.’ He accused Mutambara’s MDC of moving in circles and said they are always changing positions. Chamisa said ‘we have decided to let the people of Zimbabwe decide on who their legitimate representatives are.’

The Chitungwiza and Kadoma mayoral elections will be yet another test for the fractured opposition. Chitungwiza in particular is layered with legal minefields. The suspended Mayor of the town Misheck Shoko has a court application pending judgment and his term expired before that could be resolved. The question arising is, will Shoko stand for re-election again or will Robert Mugabe’s regime block him from doing so?

Newsreel sought answers to these questions but the Legal and Parliamentary spokesman for Tsvangirai’s MDC, Innocent Gonese says they are yet to make a decision on the Shoko scenario. This he says will have to be arrived at by various executive structures dealing with the issues.