(TALKZIMBABWE) MDC national council fires Mutambara

MDC national council fires Mutambara
By: Nancy Pasipanodya
Posted: Friday, February 11, 2011 3:17 am

ONLY a day after reclaiming the presidency of the smaller formation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's Deputy Prime Minister was on Thursday fired from the party by the new national council of that party.

Professor Arthur Mutambara, who on Wednesday took a pre-emptive move to fire Welshman Ncube who was elected as the new MDC leader in January this year. Mutambara was fired for defying the formation's decision to recall him from his post as Deputy PM in the inclusive Government to pave way for the new leader, Ncube.

The party's new Secretary General, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, speaking after the party’s national council voted to expel Mutambara, said they will now be writing to Zimbabwe mediator South African President Jacob Zuma to seek an amendment to the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

"We want to give Arthur (Mutambara) the position that he so desperately wants and hopefully we will have less public fights than we are having because we know its driven by him wanting to be deputy prime minister. He said it to me personally," said Misihairabwi-Mushonga.

The position of DPM was created under the GPA, and has to be filled by the leader of the MDC formation.

Mutambara had occupied that post by virtue of his leadership and had to relinquish that post for the new leader of that MDC formation.

On Thursday Ncube indicated that he will no longer contest to be sworn in as deputy prime minister, but also reiterated that Mutambara would not be representing the MDC in the inclusive Government.

The MDC national council says it now considers Mutambara a Zanu-PF member and will not be redeploying him to a lesser ministerial post, as they had indicated earlier.