I have not left MDC-T, I am just ashamed of what happened, says Vincent Tsvangirai
Glen View South legislator Vincent Tsvangirai says he has not left the MDC-T but is just ashamed to be associated with what was done by party leader Douglas Mwonzora.
Tsvangirai’s sentiments come on the back of an MDC-T national council meeting that allegedly endorsed Mwonzora as party leader ahead of the 5th congress.
The same meeting also endorsed Mwonzora as the party’s candidate for the 2023 Presidential elections without following proper procedure.
Following the party’s poor performance in the by-elections held in March this year, there has been bickering where some party members want Mwonzora to step aside.
Other party members are not happy with the recalls that have been used by Mwonzora to punish those who have refused to bow to his leadership.
In an interview, Tsvangirai said if Mwonzora is still the party leader, he will see out his term but will not contest in 2023.
‘’The national council that took place on the 20th of November in my opinion was a shame and a disgrace to democracy and what MDC stands for. In my opinion, it was what may be considered what breaks the camel’s back.
‘’The MDC in its acronym is democracy, to say what took place was democratic, should be rejected by anyone who believes in democratic practices.
‘’I have not left MDC, I love my party, but I am ashamed of my leader, and I did not think that Douglas Mwonzora would go to that extent to preserve his position.
‘’Those who are in the MDC who are genuine about the struggle and what the MDC stands for should reject and utterly shame the process that took place on the 20th,’’ he said.
With regards to whether he will resign from his Parliament position, Tsvangirai said he would see out his term.
‘’I will serve out the rest of my term and don’t think I will contest in 2023 under the presidency of Douglas Mwonzora. My principles will not allow it and I cannot go to the people and say please vote for us we want to deliver change in this country and democracy when we are not practicing it ourselves.
‘’We must lead by example and then go to the people and request their support because we believe in what we are fighting for, but what we did on Sunday was nothing that we can go to the people and say we stand for this. That is my opinion I cannot recognize such a process,’’ he said.
Mwonzora is doing what Chamisa did
Tsvangirai added that the MDC-T has repeated what it accused Nelson Chamisa of doing. He said the party has failed to follow its constitution again and that it was a shame.
‘’We have a constitution for a reason and the very reason why the MDC went to court and proclaimed what it proclaimed in the supreme court was that we were not following our own rule book and we have gone back to that point where we are not following our own rule book.
‘’We have very clear rules in black and white, the red book, the constitution of the MDC, and nothing in there was followed on the 20th. We came into a standing committee, a national executive, and a national council where there was no agenda.
‘’You cannot say the very day you are creating a template; you want to implement it at the same time. You have not concertised candidates who want to stand for positions in the congress, and this is a congress by the way that has not even been given a date.
‘’We went into a council where we voted on something that was utterly a disgrace, how do you have just one person stand up, declare, and just announce a proclamation of a candidate and not allow due process? Where is the secrecy of the ballot?
‘’There was no secrecy of the ballot, and it’s a shame that Douglas Mwonzora claims himself to be a promoter of secrecy of the ballot. We always say we want secrecy of the ballot, secrecy of the voter, we want the security of the voter amongst other things he proclaims and talks about,’’ said Tsvangirai.
Mwonzora dribbled aspiring candidates
He said besides, the fact that the other aspiring candidates were not aware that there was going to be voting, the people who were supposed to vote were also not aware of the process.
‘’The other thing, we had a process whereby on top of candidates not being informed that there was going to be a vote on the 20th of November, the voters, who are the councillors of the national council, were not concertised of what process was going take place that day. If it was a caucus that happened that was a caucus and that is not due process.
‘’Everyone is supposed to be notified that we are going to vote at the national council, that way we prepare, that way candidates who want to contest for positions know that there is going to be elections that are going to take place, none of that happened.
‘’We just came in and we were told at that very same moment that we were going to vote, and we were going to proclaim candidates. What if someone at the ward level, wanted to be a national chairperson? What if someone at the district level wanted to be a President?
‘’We didn’t give power to the provinces which are supposed to be where nominations come from, or to the people and ask for support, and seek nominations. These processes were not followed and I don’t know if people can legitimize that then it’s a sad situation and it’s very unfortunate,’’ he said.-
I have not left MDC-T, I am just ashamed of what happened, says Vincent Tsvangirai
