A strong force within the party is pushing for an impasse, plotting to insist on tabling their draft at the conference, which the MDC formations will obviously oppose, an inside source has revealed.
“The meeting will be aborted and President Robert Mugabe will call for elections,” said the source. Mugabe has already announced that elections should be held by March 2013, but other political parties and civil society are opposed to that time frame.
“SADC will say no to elections and Zanu (PF) anticipates that the GNU will continue. The conclusion is that MDC will agree to go for the GNU 2 because Morgan Tsvangirai’s popularity is going down,” said the source on condition of anonymity.
This revelation dovetails with the story that we ran last week quoting a Zanu (PF) Central Committee member as saying that hardliners in the party were planning to disrupt the conference and insist on discussing the Copac and Zanu (PF) drafts as well as the national statistical report.
Zanu (PF) frontman, Goodson Nguni, dismissed reports that he is part of the plan to disrupt the conference. “No one is pushing for a deadlock, that’s why we have taken Copac to court in respect of our demands. We just want Copac to release what was captured in the national report. And we will surely insist on tabling our own draft at the stakeholders meeting because we have the interests of Zimbabweans at heart,” he said.
He has been reported as saying it would be a miracle if the conference lasted three hours. Nguni also indicated that Zanu (PF) was likely to defy SADC guidelines on elections. “Very soon Mugabe will tell SADC to go to hell,” he said.
But Zanu (PF) spokesperson Rugare Gumbo contradicted Nguni, stressing that his party wanted the new constitution completed so that they could hold elections. “We don’t want the GNU anymore and we are not threatened by MDC, so those are lies that we are fighting for the continuation of the GNU,” said Gumbo. Meanwhile, MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said his party was tired of the GNU and wanted elections in a conducive environment.
“If that is what they are planning they should forget it because we don’t want another GNU, we will have elections when the time is right and have only one ruling party. Zanu (PF) is losing popularity, not MDC. That party expired long back and no one is interested in them,” said Mwonzora.
Post published in: News