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Enfeebled by its electoral loss to veteran leader Robert Mugabe and a post-vote split, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was meeting yesterday to elect new leaders and devise a fresh plan to end Mugabe's 34-year rule.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the two-day congress, expected to attract 7,000 delegates, was likely to retain Morgan Tsvangirai as leader and hoped see the embattled party emerge stronger.
"We are reinvigorating the party. It's going to be more vibrant and rejuvenated after the congress," Chamisa said.
"We are rebooting and re-energising the party to confront the dictatorship that is Zanu-PF and address the problems affecting Zimbabwe. We are ending the congress by electing a team that will lead Zimbabweans to a new Zimbabwe."
He said the internal feuding threatening to tear apart Mugabe's Zanu-PF party was a boon for the opposition.
"As Zanu-PF is collapsing, the MDC is rising," Chamisa said.
But analysts expect little from the MDC, saying the party has lost focus after its defeat in last year's general elections.
Rushweat Mukundu, an analyst with the political think tank Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), said the congress was "almost a non-event".
"Instead of picking up the pieces they ended up in squabbles and personal fights which resulted in the party splitting for the second time," Mukundu said.
Splits have been prompted by arguments over Tsvangirai's continued leadership, despite a series of election defeats and personal scandals.
A party faction headed by Tsvangirai's former deputy Tendai Biti moved to suspend him, and the veteran trade union leader promptly responded by expelling all involved in the bid to cast him aside.
"When you are busy fighting for positions instead of mobilising for support it means something is wrong. The MDC needs to come up with a clear message on how it intends to get Zimbabwe out of the current economic quagmire," Mukundu said.
Independent political analyst Takura Zhangazha said chances of the MDC recovering from its split were remote.
"The MDC lost a chance even before the split in Zanu-PF began to show," Zhangazha said.
"The chances of the party reuniting itself are relatively slim but the congress could be an opportunity for them to show political maturity and come up with a message that makes them relevant to the general populace."
The dire state of Zimbabwe's economy may offer the MDC a chance at renewal. Takavafira Zhou, a political scientist from Masvingo State University, said the MDC should offer a policy in contrast to Zanu-PF.
"The MDC needs to show ideological clarity and come up with a definite way forward. People need jobs, food and decent shelter. What people need is a leadership that gives an alternative to Zanu-PF," Zhou said.
Since 1999, the MDC has presented the most formidable challenge to Mugabe's stranglehold on power. But it was weakened by Mugabe's strong-arm tactics and splits among party officials.


Zimbabwe’s opposition talks of ousting Mugabe, but analysts sceptical

Splits have been prompted by arguments over Morgan Tsvangirai's continued leadership.

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World

Movement for Democratic Change unlikely to recover from splits and poll losses, analysts say


Enfeebled by its electoral loss to veteran leader Robert Mugabe and a post-vote split, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was meeting yesterday to elect new leaders and devise a fresh plan to end Mugabe's 34-year rule.
