Rebel pro-senate candidates under fire from supporters in the provinces
By Lance Guma
31 October 2005

Rebel pro-senate candidates who defied opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai continue to face the heat from ordinary party supporters in the provinces. Willard Somerai the National Youth Organising Secretary in the Movement for Democratic Change says their rebellion has proved very unpopular. Ever since the close of the nomination courts they have not shown their faces in public. Somerai revealed startling statistics that 40 out 66 members of the National Council who voted on the ill-fated 12 October senate vote had senatorial ambitions.

He gave the example of his Midlands North province where their Chairman, Isaac Muzimba and Treasurer Lameck Muyambi defied the resolution of the province to boycott and instead voted for participation. Muzimba is alleged to have come back from the meeting and apologised to his colleagues for misrepresenting their wishes. Despite the apology Muzimba and Muyambi went on to register their names thus betraying the objectivity of their vote in the first place. Party supporters in the province are very angry at the betrayal and Somerai says he does not know how his colleagues will campaign given how unpopular they have become.

Buoyed by overwhelming support in the grassroots structures, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai meanwhile has defied the sensitivities of dialogue with the rival faction of the party over senate polls and instead continued on a countrywide campaign calling for a boycott. Well-attended rallies in Gokwe Central, Zhombe, Kwekwe Central and Silobela over the weekend have seen him tell party supporters to ignore the senate elections as just another political gimmick from Robert Mugabe's government.

Somerai told Newsreel, over 10 000 people attended the Silobela rally at the Torwood open space area. Party youths turned up with banners written 'no to senate elections' and denounced those accused of working with Zanu PF to legitimize the election.

On Monday the management committee of the MDC met in Harare with the crisis seemingly remaining unresolved. Tsvangirai's spokesman William Bango issued a statement reiterating that Tsvangirai's position on participation remained unchanged. The committee called for an MDC national council meeting on Saturday at which Tsvangirai will present a report on the state of the party, the current preparations on the Congress process and the way forward. He is also expected to give the council an overview of the campaign for a new Constitution, which the party has adopted in tandem with the MDC's civil society partners.