Spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Newsreel on Monday that delegates resolved that Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana must step down in the national interest. With district and provincial reports being submitted and debated, the delegates agreed that both Gono and Tomana had poisoned the economic and human rights situation in the country. Since SADC and the African Union acted as guarantors to the deal, the MDC now want them to intervene and resolve the impasse.
In other resolutions the MDC vowed it would re-engage civil society groups in the constitution making process and that a genuinely free and fair election must be held at the conclusion of the process. The party also said the country needed a legal framework to help deal with the plight of victims of political violence. Party delegates were also critical of what they felt was the slow pace of media reforms, high tariffs from state owned service providers and the deployment of army personnel in the villages.
Commenting on ongoing political violence and persecution, Chamisa told us the party urged Finance Minister Tendai Biti to ensure government did not fund any youth militia structures as these promoted violence. The party also demanded that the National Security Council, that had been established to replace the notorious Joint Operations Command, must meet urgently in terms of the law. There are reports Mugabe is refusing to sign the National Security Council bill into law and in the meantime the JOC continues to meet.
The MDC resolutions clearly sought to draw a line between the party and the government. Tsvangirai for example told delegates the MDC is in government but we are not the government. These are the limitations in a marriage of convenience. Those in government will tell you this government is walking on a thin thread. The Prime Minister has over the months drawn criticism for defending Mugabe too much, at the expense of his own credibility. Over the weekend however his party was not so diplomatic.
Meanwhile Tsvangirai is set to make his first overseas trip by going to France at the end of June. French Junior trade minister Anne-Marie Idrac, who is visiting Zimbabwe, extended the invitation after praising Tsvangirai for his work in the unity government. – SW Radio Africa
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