Mutambara to go it alone

ress statements have been flying thick and fast from the two warring factions, with officials trading trivial insults.
The unfortunate haggling in Zimbabwe’s biggest opposition party comes at a time when the majority of economically embattled Zimbabweans have lost all hope, and are convinced that the opposition lacks the institutional capacity to unite and redeem them from the jaws of President Robert Mugabe’s marauding tyranny.
Tsvangirai, the founding MDC president, has maintained that he is still attempting to broker a pact between the warring opposition factions that broke ranks in October 2005 over a controversial decision to contest the Senate poll.
Flanked by pro-senate secretary general Welshman Ncube, Mutambara told the Saturday press conference that Tsvangirai did not understand the strategic value of unity in the struggle against Mugabe.
“If Morgan Tsvangirai is such a weak and indecisive leader who cannot embrace what ordinary Zimbabweans are demanding, is he worthy of the presidency of this country?” asked Mutambara. “Zimbabweans deserve better leadership.”
Responding to the allegations yesterday, Tsvangirari’s spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, said his party understood the exasperation and desperation in the Mutambara camp given its dwindling support base.
“It is unfortunate that Mutambara thinks his problem is Tsvangirai,” said Chamisa. “Instead of uniting he is busy charging like a bull in a China shop. He announced his arrival in local politics with a declaration that he had a vision and a blueprint. But we are yet to see all these things.”
The decision by Mutambara to go into next year’s poll divided has been roundly condemned, with many questioning the wisdom of the idea in light of the faction’s fast drying grassroots support. They point to results of recent by-elections, pointedly the Budiriro by-election where the Mutambara candidate Gabriel Chaibva polled a meagre 500 votes against the MDC (Tsvangirai)’s 7,500 ballots.
Mutambara denied he has scant support from the grassroots. He said his formation has 20 MPs in Parliament, seven senators and 41 councillors. But analysts claim his deputies might run into problems getting re-elected on a Mutambara ticket. – Chief Reporter