- MDC Alliance spokesperson says judiciary compromised
- MDC-T national chairperson, Komichi, says no party such as MDC Alliance
- Mwonzora says MDC-T sympathises with legislators
MDC secretary-general and national chairperson Douglas Mwonzora and Morgen Komichi, respectively, on Friday berated MDC Alliance vice president Welshman Ncube after he dared the duo to relinquish their senatorial posts.
Ncube’s remarks come hard on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling that dethroned Nelson Chamisa as president of the MDC party, saying his climb to power was clandestine.
In arriving at the judgment, the apex court said Chamisa’s appointment as MDC vice president by the late Morgan Tsvangirai in 2016 was irregular.
But MDC Alliance deputy spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka on Friday told Zim Morning Post that the Supreme Court judgment was flawed, further suggesting the judiciary in Zimbabwe was compromised.
“It is shocking that we have (had) a mischievous judgment in recent days which brings into question the autonomy of our judiciary…,” he said.
Asked on the contentious subject of who has jurisdiction over opposition members in the legislature, Tamborinyoka had this to say:
“It is very clear who deployed those legislators to Parliament, particularly those who ran under the MDC Alliance banner. It is the MDC Alliance and no one has the right (over) them except the MDC Alliance.”
The MDC Alliance deputy spokesperson’s views were shot down by one media expert and former Alpha Media Holdings editor who declined to be named:
“From the court ruling, it is impossible (for MDC Alliance to claim control over the opposition legislators). It is Mwonzora and his faction who can actually recall the other team from Parliament and the Senate.”
The view by the media expert appeared to emanate from the conception that it is the MDC, formerly led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai, which forwarded candidates who eventually made it as MPs and Senators in the 2018 legislative elections.
Komichi also seemed to buttress the position taken by Zim Morning Post’s media expert, saying the MDC Alliance did not have the legal legs to stand on for their claim.
“MDC Alliance is not a political party. It’s an electoral pact of seven different parties in which MDC is a major partner.No one party can use the name MDC Alliance without the consent of all other parties involved,” he said.
“We, the MDC, will definitely object to the usage of that name by anyone. MDC Alliance is the name of our electoral pact; the vehicle we used in the 2018 elections. Ncube needs to read the MDC Alliance agreement document,” he said.
But would the MDC recall the legislators in the lower and upper houses if they refused to toe the line?
“The MDC is not a retributive party.We actually sympathise with the position our legislators have found themselves in. No legislator shall be recalled except under extreme circumstances,” Mwonzora said in an interview with Zim Morning Post on Friday.
