While some label MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai a right-wing extremist dictator, a growing number of Zimbabweans want get-tough policies and see him as their saviour.
Internally, he is dogged by allegations of favouritism, wilful violation of the party’s constitution, and establishing a kitchen Cabinet – allegations that have exacted an enormous toll on his standing as a democrat.
However he remains the most popular opposition politician in Zimbabwe. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa downplays the problems in his party.
“The MDC as a democratic institution has sufficient mechanisms to deal with both the internal and external challenges that are fairly inevitable in such a mass-based organization,” he said.
Voters are frustrated that the opposition’s concessions to President Robert Mugabe’s in assenting to Constitutional Amendment No. 18 have so far failed to stop the violence and lead to a level playing field ahead of the watershed poll.
There is general consensus that Tsvangirai has demonstrated considerable courage in standing up to Mugabe and being that voice relentlessly speaking out against the excesses of the ruling regime.
Critics however cast him as an extremist who would plunge Zimbabwe into wider conflict and chip away at its democratic traditions by his alleged disrespect for the constitution.
They point to the recent dissolution of the Women’s Assembly executive, where Tsvangirai is accused to flouting the constitution. The October 12 MDC split also followed allegations that Tsvangirai had flouted protocol.
However, supporters see in Tsvangirai an experienced and decisive leader – perhaps the only man capable of bringing order to the chaos of an escalating 27-year crisis under the Mugabe regime.
“I’m going to vote for Tsvangirai and so are 99 percent of the people who come into my store,” said an owner of a convenience store in the impoverished Mbare neighbourhood. “This country needs discipline, it needs a strong hand.”
Observers say Tsvangirai’s hope of winning the presidency was still “very much alive,” notwithstanding the problems in his party. – Chief Reporter
Post published in: News