The people have spoken

st any piecemeal and half-baked approach to the national crisis. By staying away from yesterdays polls, Zimbabweans issued a loud cry against unemployment, poverty, starvation and the crisis in the social services sector. Yes, yesterdays call was as much about the demand for food and jobs as much as it was a demand for a new people-driven Constitution, free and fair elections and an end to dictatorship, corruption and the cruelty we are suffering under this regime. We have been vindicated. We were proved right in our assessment of the national sentiment. Yes, this was a vote of no confidence in Zanu (PF) and its allies. That vote of no confidence shows the power balance in this country. The MDC is with the people and understands the national pulse. Our message was well received. Yesterdays boycott demands of the MDC leadership a major paradigm shift that focuses purely on resolving the national crisis and attention to Constitutional and legitimate forms of pressurizing the regime to accept a new road map to change, premised on a new Constitution. We must change gears from discredited election processes that bring pain to our people to an era of democratic mass confrontation with the dictatorship  an era of non-violent mass resistance. That is the way forward. I acknowledge, however, that not only a strong and united MDC can provide the necessary leadership that meets up to the new challenge and the new direction. Events since last month have shown that there are now irreconcilable differences in our party between those who look at the broader picture and mass approach that seeks genuine resolution of the crisis and a narrow, parochial clique that sees the struggle from a standpoint of personal gain, salaries and personal perks. The struggle has no room for opportunists. The freedom train will drop unnecessary garbage. The results of yesterday reflect the myopia and narrow-minded folly of the thinking of some of my colleagues of yester-year – the same who are still bent on causing confusion to our people. In this regard, let me make reference to an unfortunate attempt to suspend me from the leadership of this party through a letter dated November 24 2005 written by my deputy, Gibson Sibanda. The MDC Constitution allows nobody except Congress to suspend or dismiss the President. Resorting to unconstitutional tactics that play in the hands of Zanu (PF) reflects the desperate and immature state of mind gripping my erstwhile comrades. We are therefore referring this matter to the people through the national Council and subsequently to our national Congress. We shall not be detracted from our main objective. We shall not yield on matters of principle. We will confront the dictatorship and bring about change to all Zimbabweans that is long overdue as it is deserved.