MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018
OFFICIAL PRESS STATEMENT BY THE ACTING MDCT PRESIDENT, HON ENG. ELIAS MUDZURI
1)
THE ISSUE OF THE ACTING PRESIDENT
When I was appointed Acting President, it was done so by President Morgan Tsvangirai openly in the presence of the party presidium and in the full knowledge of the entire national party leadership to ‘act’ until the President’s return.
Now fast track to the so called current impasse and you will realise how glaringly unusual one can claim the same position via a dubious tweeter announcement.
Those are unofficial channels of communication which we have since confirmed to be fraudulent and patently unknown to MDCT channels of communication. It’s a stinking conspiracy!
Such behaviour constitutes a serious offence and an intolerable breach of trust in terms of our party constitution. It’s criminal to impersonate and mock our President given the situation he is dealing with. That must stop immediately.
For the record, President Morgan Tsvangirai has not tweeted for months because he hasn’t been well neither does he have access to any of his communication gadgets at the moment. This is abuse of the highest order.
2.
INDISCIPLINE IN THE PARTY
We have all seen and heard the shocking deliberate misinformation and misrepresentation of issues obtaining in the party where some people continue to fraudulently authorise themselves to speak and act on behalf of the President Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
Their abuse of social media has gone overboard. They have created false Facebook and tweeter accounts to advance personal agenda.
Henceforth all communications of the party and that of the Acting President shall be the responsibility of the National Spokesperson and the Acting President until further notice.
3.
DIVISIVE BEHAVIOUR
We note with grave concern the escalation of divisive, hateful, intolerant, and egocentric behaviour that is causing major disservice to the party by narrowing the prospects of endearing ourselves to the electorate.
Such behaviour portrays us as a disjointed and self-defeating party. This is the work of detractors bend on destroying the party from within, the same exact situation that we saw in ZANU PF where people were running parallel structures and programmes in defiance of party protocol and procedures.
We say no to the politics of “jambanja” (lawlessness). Some leaders are abusing Alliance platforms to denigrate the leadership of MDCT.
We note with great concern the evident external interference in our party business. It is a pattern that started a while ago when the President was still in the country.
4.
PARTY UNITY
In spite of all these shenanigans, I have a clear mandate to unite the party and to strategically prepare the party for victory in the forth coming elections.
It is a mandate which was given to me by the President on the day of my appointment which was also reaffirmed recently during my visit to South Africa when he summoned me to meet with him in Joburg as extensively reported by SABC.
At this stage we are thoroughly engaged in seeking to resolve all sticking issues amicably to maintain party cohesion. We will not allow ourselves to be destroyed by the enemy from within.
I want to assure the MDCT family that we will contest the election as a united front, a solid party with credible coalition partners.
We also called upon our Alliance partners to desist from interfering with MDCT party business as this is ultra vires the spirit of the Alliance Agreement.
For the record, no alliance partners even in the past two weeks ever met President Tsvangirai in SA or outside. Section 2.0 of the agreement clearly states that the “Alliance partners shall remain and operate as independent parties.”
While we consolidate the current alliance we still believe in a concept of a much bigger tent to include other political parties.
5.
ROLL OUT PLAN
We have already initiated the candidate selection process which in essence is guided by solid democratic tenets and as enunciated by the provisions of the Composite Political Cooperation Agreement which states in Section 3.0.(c) that the “Party which is the strongest electorally in any given constituency (or ward) must fuel a candidate for the coalition”.
We have already started our ward-based election strategy and we will soon be embarking on widespread national rallies, workshops, grassroots meetings and various other activities meant to prepare for a landslide victory.
We believe ZANU PF is more beatable than ever. We can see their desperation in reinforcing army personnel in various structures and institutions.
6.
PRESIDENT TSVANGIRAI IS STILL THE PRESIDENT
Let me categorically state that Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is still our President and there’s no vacancy as yet.
Should the President ever decide to announce his retirement, the party will still be guided by its constitution to find the next leader of both the Party and the Alliance. There are no shortcuts and no one can declare himself/herself to be President without following party procedures.
7.
JOURNOS
Lastly to the journos, I kindly implore you to report objectively and as responsible citizens. The nation deserves to know the truth and the truth only!
Hon. Eng. Elias Mudzuri
Acting President (MDC T)
