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MDC to participate in run-off
By Our Correspondent
HARARE , May 9, 2008 (thezimbabwetimes.com) - Zimbabwe ’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has now decided it will participate in the second round of the presidential poll whose date is still to be announced by the country’s electoral commission.
The national council of the MDC met in Harare at the weekend and decided that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai would take part in the anticipated presidential poll run-off, which became necessary after the first round of the election failed to produce a clear winner.
The meeting which took place in Harare on May 3, was chaired by MDC deputy president Thokozani Khupe in the absence of Tsvangirai who is currently based in Botswana .
According to official results of the presidential poll announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), none of the four presidential candidates garnered the required 50 percent plus one majority vote during the March 29 election.
ZEC last Friday announced the official results of the presidential poll giving Tsvangirai 47.9 percent against President Mugabe’s 43.2 percent. Independent candidates Simba Makoni and Langton Towungana won 8.3 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
MDC chairman for Harare Province Morgan Femai Wednesday told members of his provincial executive that the national council had resolved to participate in the poll run-off despite the violent terror campaign unleashed by Zanu-PF militants against opposition supporters in rural areas.
The provincial chairman, who is the newly-elected Senator for Chikomo Constituency in Harare, made the disclosure at a meeting of the provincial leadership called to instruct party structures to start preparing for the run-off poll whose date is still unknown.
Sources who attended the meeting revealed that Femai told a meeting of provincial and district executives, newly-elected legislators and councillors that they should start mobilizing for the run-off to ensure Tsvangirai’s victory.
Femai said: “The truth of it is that Morgan Tsvangirai is going to participate in the presidential run-off. We must make sure that Mugabe loses again in this run-off.
“Our district and ward structures should start mobilizing as soon as you go back home. We must aim to double voter turnout in all MDC strongholds, beginning with Harare Province . Those who have already won as MPs or councillors should not relax”.
MDC chairperson for Harare province women’s assembly Rorina Dandajena, who is the newly elected Senator for Hwata, also confirmed attending the weekend national council meeting but declined to give details of the meeting, referring all questions to party spokesman Nelson Chamisa.
Dandajena said: “All I can say is that yes I attended the national council meeting on Saturday. If you want to know more about that meeting then you must talk to Chamisa”.
Chamisa could not be reached for comment Thursday as he was said to have left the country for a party meeting in South Africa .
Sources who attended the weekend national council meeting said the party had taken two strategic positions – one official and the other political.
The official position, according to the sources, was that the MDC would participate in the run-off in order to avoid giving Mugabe political power on a silver platter. The meeting noted that boycotting the second round of the presidential poll would not achieve anything as Mugabe and Zanu-PF were likely to press ahead without the MDC, sources said.
The political position was that the party would publicly reject the official results announced by the electoral commission last Friday and maintain that Tsvangirai won the poll out-rightly thus discounting the need for a run-off.
The national council also resolved that the political position (of non-participation in the run-off) would be projected as the official party position in the media and outside the party structures. The meeting which was attended by all elected national executive council members and provincial chairpersons mandated provinces to begin mobilizing for the run-off.
The MDC has officially rejected the results of the March 29 presidential election and has written to ZEC demanding an explanation on the discrepancies between the official results and those collated by the opposition party.
The party has also declared that it will not participate in the poll run-off insisting the MDC presidential candidate polled 50.3 percent of the vote, thus rendering a second round of the election unnecessary.
But the weekend resolution and movement within the party’s structures show that the MDC is now getting ready for the run-off poll.
Sources say Tsvangirai who is currently in temporary exile in Gaborone will be informed on the resolutions of the Saturday meeting when the powerful standing committee of the MDC meets in South Africa this weekend to adopt the national council position among other issues.
Tsvangirai is expected to chair the Johannesburg meeting which will also be attended by party secretary-general Tendai Biti who has been based in South Africa . MDC sources say Tsvangirai will fly back into the country in time to launch a campaign for the run-off as soon as the electoral commission announces the date of the run-off election.
The poll is technically expected before May 23 but the commission, which appears reluctant to announce the poll date, says it has the authority to extend the dates adding it will publish the dates when all the logistics to hold the elections are in place.
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