Zim opposition leader fights for title as Mugabe’s main rival

HARARE – Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai faces the stern test this week of reorganising his party after a split he blames on political pressure from President Robert Mugabe’s government.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which was formed in 1999 and has been seen as the most potent threat to Mugabe, split into two hostile camps last year in a bitter feud over how to tackle Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. An MDC faction led by party secretary-general Welshman Ncube and vice-president Gibson Sibanda last month formally split from Tsvangirai by electing a new leader, former militant student activist Arthur Mutambara.Tsvangirai – the MDC’s founding president and still seen by analysts as Mugabe’s main challenger – has retained control over a faction of MDC loyalists and takes his group into a two-day congress on Saturday expected to endorse his leadership.Political analysts say Tsvangirai must emerge from the congress with a strong leadership team and credible programme if he is to convince Zimbabweans and the international community he can still offer an alternative to Mugabe.”The congress is an opportunity for him to rally support around his leadership, to articulate his political programme and to try to motivate people around his challenge to Zanu-PF,” said political commentator Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei.”There are questions on whether he has been outflanked and outwitted and on whether he is still a big player capable of beating Mugabe, Zanu-PF and the other challengers in the ring,” he said.”The congress will give him an opportunity to answer some of these questions, but a lot will depend on how he organises his movement for future elections,” Dzinotyiwei added.Tsvangirai ran into trouble with some of his MDC lieutenants last October when he ordered the party to boycott polls for a new Senate, which he argued would entrench Mugabe’s power.Analysts say that while the dispute has weakened the MDC it is still too early to discount Tsvangirai, who has for the past six years been the leading voice of protest against what he calls Mugabe’s increasingly draconian rule.Tsvangirai, who claims Mugabe robbed him of victory in a presidential poll in 2002 and has been hit with two separate treason charges, remains popular with grassroot supporters.- Nampa-ReutersAn MDC faction led by party secretary-general Welshman Ncube and vice-president Gibson Sibanda last month formally split from Tsvangirai by electing a new leader, former militant student activist Arthur Mutambara.Tsvangirai – the MDC’s founding president and still seen by analysts as Mugabe’s main challenger – has retained control over a faction of MDC loyalists and takes his group into a two-day congress on Saturday expected to endorse his leadership.Political analysts say Tsvangirai must emerge from the congress with a strong leadership team and credible programme if he is to convince Zimbabweans and the international community he can still offer an alternative to Mugabe.”The congress is an opportunity for him to rally support around his leadership, to articulate his political programme and to try to motivate people around his challenge to Zanu-PF,” said political commentator Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei.”There are questions on whether he has been outflanked and outwitted and on whether he is still a big player capable of beating Mugabe, Zanu-PF and the other challengers in the ring,” he said.”The congress will give him an opportunity to answer some of these questions, but a lot will depend on how he organises his movement for future elections,” Dzinotyiwei added.Tsvangirai ran into trouble with some of his MDC lieutenants last October when he ordered the party to boycott polls for a new Senate, which he argued would entrench Mugabe’s power.Analysts say that while the dispute has weakened the MDC it is still too early to discount Tsvangirai, who has for the past six years been the leading voice of protest against what he calls Mugabe’s increasingly draconian rule.Tsvangirai, who claims Mugabe robbed him of victory in a presidential poll in 2002 and has been hit with two separate treason charges, remains popular with grassroot supporters.- Nampa-Reuters