Political Reporter

Leader of the MDC-T, Douglas Mwonzora, has called upon the MDC Alliance to desist from politics of vengeance and engage in progressive politics that would bring peace and development in the country.

In an interview with this publication, Mwonzora lambasted the MDC Alliance for advocating politics of hate and vengeance.

“We were written off by our opponents. But now they are showing signs of desperation in trying to contain us. They tried using hate language on social media and propaganda on social media. Now they have resorted to cartoons on social media, daily cartoons on me. They are also now trying to physically target our supporters and to disturb our meetings.

“They did that even in Bindura, they did that in Harare West. Most of these people were coming from Mr (Nelson) Chamisa's party (MDC Alliance). That is an act of desperation by people who had thought they could write us off,” said Mwonzora.

Mwonzora said it was wrong for the MDC Alliance to continue falsely claiming that he was working with ZANU PF to decimate Chamisa’s MDC outfit.

“This is very wrong. There are people who are parading that falsehood. They are mainly basing it on the new political approach that we have taken. We have jettisoned the politics of acrimony and violence. We have been extremely adaptable, and we know the politics that is appropriate now,” added Mwonzora.

The MDC-T leader said people who continued to criticise him and his party did not understand the essence of opposition, adding that an effective opposition should not be rude and unpleasant to its opponent. Mwonzora said he valued political dialogue as a noble strategy that would bring political tolerance and peace in the country.

Shedding light on Chamisa’s 2018 failed presidential challenge at the Constitutional Court, Mwonzora said Chamisa’s case was badly presented and the MDC Alliance should stop blaming Chief Justice Luke Malaba for their defeat.

“There is a mistake that mostly Chamisa people are making. They assume that Mr Chamisa lost the presidential election petition because Justice Malaba was the Chief Justice. As everybody saw, Mr Chamisa lost the election petition because his case was badly prepared and presented. I pointed it out to him because I was the secretary-general and they removed me as part of the legal team because I had told them that it was unwinnable,” added Mwonzora.

The MDC-T and MDC Alliance have been at loggerheads since last year when the Supreme Court ruled that the later was not a political party, but a group of parties that converged together for the sake of contesting an election. After the ruling, Mwonzora and others parted ways with Chamisa as they sought to revive the fortunes of the MDC.