MDC to walk the talk

0in 0in 0pt”>HARARE – Morgan Tsvangirai’s faction of the MDC is gearing itself for active resistance politics. This is the message the party’s leadership will take to its congress at Harare’s City Sports Centre next weekend.

“The time for talking is over. It is time to walk the talk,” said Nelson Chamisa, secretary for information, in an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean this week.

Ten thousand delegates are expected to attend the congress under the banner of “Rallying the people for a new Zimbabwe”.

“We want to get a mandate from the people on the way forward, particularly in terms of participation in elections in view of the skewed nature of the electoral process under the control of the Zanu (PF) government,” said Chamisa. “The rigging continues and we believe it is futile to follow that route.”

He said the party had invited all the rebels, who held their own congress in Bulawayo two weeks ago, to attend this congress. “This is the only platform for raising the leadership issues that have split the party,” said Chamisa. “So we hope they will attend and participate meaningfully so that we can all go forward.”

Other democratic forces in Zimbabwe, including churches, civic organisations and pressure groups have also been invited to attend, as have diplomatic representatives and political parties from the region.

A number of constitutional amendments will be tabled for discussion at the congress and are expected to generate active input from the provinces.

All party posts will be up for grabs and prospective candidates have already begun campaigning for these.

Chamisa emphasised that the MDC was a broad-based party, which sought its mandate from its supporters at every level. “Morgan Tsvangirai is not the MDC. The people are the party,” he said. “Congress is expected to demonstrate this very clearly.”