the movement was becoming popular. While Tsvangirai wants to take the battle for control of the party to the people’s Congress, Ncube will probably want to take the battle to the courts where he is more competent. Tsvangirai is already basking in the success of his call for a boycott of the senate elections which was the impetus for the split, with Ncube and his camp wanting the MDC to participate in the elections. Less than 15 percent of the electorate turned up for the election for a senate that is largely viewed as a tactic by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to consolidate his rule. The two sides have traded denunciations in the media, with Tsvangirai holding out hope that they might reconcile for the good of the party. Tsvangirai’s vice-president Gibson Sibanda has joined the secretary general in the rebellion, and, as chairman of the disciplinary committee of the party has suspended Tsvangirai, pending his appearance before the committee.
Post published in: News
2.12.2005
0:00
Tsvangirai confirms MDC split
Battle lines have now been drawn between MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his erstwhile secretary general, Welshman Ncube. Tsvangirai, a trade unionist-turned politician, was the founder-president of the MDC while law professor Ncube was drafted in to assist in the MDC's constitutional work when