Opposition MDC president Douglas Mwonzora has blasted former party deputy president Engineer Elias Mudzuri describing him as a loser since the days of founding party president the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mudzuri and six other senior party members have taken the party to court over what they say was a breach of the party Constitution by Mwonzora and company following the party’s December 2022 congress that subsequently elected the Manicaland senator as leader of the opposition party.
Speaking to journalists at the party headquarters in Harare on Monday, Mwonzora said Mudzuri has never won an internal party election.
“The leadership of the MDC is selected by Congress, honourable Mudzuri was nominated by the national council for deputy president, we then postponed the national council in order to print ballots, and he was being challenged by two people Nomalanga Khumalo and Paurina Mpariwa. It became so obvious to him that he was not winning because let’s face it honourable Mudzuri has never won internal elections remember in 2011 he lost to Nelson Chamisa for the post of organising secretary, in 2014 he did not even contest elections.
“He was then handpicked by president Tsvangirai in 2016. In 2020 he contested for the position of president at the extra ordinary congress he polled 14 votes, Morgan Komichi polled 9 votes, Thokozani Khupe polled 118 and I polled 888 votes. After that I did appoint honourable Mudzuri to be deputy president a position that he held until the democratic process. He was part of all the democratic processes that took place leading to congress, he cannot be heard to say because he has lost the elections that people are illegitimate. I was nominated by the national council and elected at congress and democratically so,” said Mwonzora.
The MDC leader said Mudzuri had served long in the party and his actions to take the party to court eventually expels him.
“This is not the first time that honourable Mudzuri has done this to people senior to him, in 2013 he wrote a letter to Morgan Tsvangirai asking him to step down for him to take over and Morgan Tsvangirai off course treated him with the disdain that it deserves, in 2019 he wrote a letter to Nelson Chamisa who was his president then asking him to resign so that he takes over, he came to me asking me to resign so that he will take over. Here is a leader that wants leadership by default, I think and with due respect to Senator Mudzuri.
“I think he has outlived his career in the organisation. The MDC leadership is won at congress and is lost at congress. It is not lost to disaffected, ambitious unable individuals who fail to even get a nomination. We have lifted the suspension of honourable Mudzuri and six others because in terms of our constitution they have expelled themselves from the party by taking the party to the court in terms of clause 5.10 (a) of the Constitution of the MDC if you take the party to the court you automatically expel yourself so we no longer have jurisdiction over them. We wish them good luck and I know they are going to be forming a party and we wish them the best there.” said the MDC leader.
