by Christopher Makaza
…as Biti, Chamisa challenge each other in public
Factionalism within the embattled MDC continues to widen with faction leaders openly challenging each other on public forums, The Harare Post can reveal.
During an MDC National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Friday in Masvingo, MDC leader Nelson Chamisa and his co-vice leader, Tendai Biti openly contradicted each other over the timing and execution of their intended demonstrations.
According to a reliable source within the opposition party, Chamisa told the attendees that MDC was in the process of engaging likeminded individuals and organisations like labour unions, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), students unions and vendors among others to persuade them to buy the idea of demonstrations before the opposition party execute them.
However, the source said Biti stood up to challenge his youthful boss highlighting that the anger and frustration within the youths over poor economic conditions is in itself ripe to spark demonstrations. He demanded that Chamisa must immediately give a signal for demonstrations to which Chamisa interjected saying the issue should be first tabled before the National Executive (NE) and the National Council (NC). He urged members to wait for guidance from the leadership which will announce the position after mobilising for support from the above mentioned stakeholders.
Contact went on to say that that was the reason why the organisations such as ZCTU, #Tajamuka, ARTUZ and others are always calling for demonstrations on behalf of the MDC Alliance.
Chamisa also allegedly told attendees that the MDC will build political and diplomatic pressure on Zanu PF through radical demonstrations to force the ruling party to go to dialogue. It is alleged that he also revealed that they will engage Southern African Development Committee (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to put pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to call for a dialogue with an independent facilitator.
Chamisa also reportedly emphasised that MDC will dialogue with Zanu PF only if the process is facilitated by the International Community particularly their Western controllers and only after political and electoral reforms are addressed.
Analysts said that the MDC leadership was only thinking about GNU that Zanu PF is not even dreaming of. They said the opposition party was dancing according to the tune of their Western masters who want them to be in the GNU so that they fight for reforms from within in a bid to fulfil their regime change agenda.
Chamisa went on to say that they will not drop their legitimacy crisis mantra which they will continue to push as their trump card to dialogue. Same also suggested that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) be disbanded arguing it is captured by Zanu PF.
Chamisa said that when they get into power, they will resume the multi-currency system which according to them was better than the mono-currency
Surprisingly the scrapping of the multicurrency system by the government was welcomed by majority of Zimbabwe who are optimistic that the currency reforms would turn around the country`s economy.
On June 24, the government of Zimbabwe through the Minister of Finance issued Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 of 2019, which abolished the multicurrency system and designated the Zimbabwe dollar as the sole currency for legal tender purposes in the country. The instrument is aimed at reducing production costs and arrest price hike madness among other objectives.
