MDC unity talks collapse
By Violet Gonda
30 July 2007

Many people had pinned their hopes on the divided MDC reuniting to give the democratic forces more strength to fight the dictatorship, but chances of that were quashed this weekend. Professor Arthur Mutambara announced at a press conference in Harare that the unity talks had collapsed, saying the Tsvangirai MDC had spurned a coalition offer to become the sole opposition candidate in presidential elections scheduled for next year. Mutambara also announced that his party was no longer part of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.

He launched a scathing attack on his rival saying: “If Morgan Tsvangirai does not understand the strategic value of unity in our struggle against Mugabe, Council wonders whether he is fit to be the President of Zimbabwe. If Morgan Tsvangirai is such a weak and indecisive leader who cannot embrace what ordinary Zimbabweans are demanding (unity of action and purpose), is he worthy of the presidency of this country? Zimbabweans deserve better leadership.”
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s response was more measured. He told his supporters at a rally in Kuwadzana that it was pointless spending energy attacking Mutambara, as the real enemy was Robert Mugabe. He said: “We need unity of all progressive forces in this country. The enemy is not Tsvangirai. The enemy is Mugabe.”

The MDC split in October 2005 as a result of infighting, personality differences and disagreements on strategies.
NCA chairperson Dr Lovemore Madhuku said it’s unfortunate that things have turned this way for the opposition in Zimbabwe. But he said people should now stop wasting time pursuing unity talks. “I think to create a lot of time pursuing so-called unity talks is really a waste of time. We know these people. It’s not something that we are thinking about in abstract. We know who they are and what they think about each other and so why would people really want to see Morgan Tsvangirai sitting side-by-side with Welshman Ncube when we know that they cannot sit in the same way, and they don’t respect each other at all. I think it’s a waste of time doing that.” Madhuku said.
The civic leader said for the sake of progress the people needed to accept the reality that the two groups are now separate political formations adding that there are processes now for the factions to have separate identities.

Madhuku, whose pressure group is also a member of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, said the divisions are only in the opposition political parties and not among the civil society. He said the Save Zimbabwe Campaign would continue to fight for democracy and take part in street protests.
Madhuku said it is the political parties who should be doing this, as they command the larger numbers, but that it is unfortunate the two MDC factions do not seem to be committed to the process of mass protest or committed to the process of unity.
Zimbabweans now wait to see what is going to happen with the SADC initiative where the two MDCs were participating in the talks as one. It is reported that they will continue to meet for the talks. Critics ask how the MDC can be in the talks as one unit, when they appear to so seriously oppose each other.