Maravi

Zanu PF in marathon crisis meeting

Zanu PF in marathon crisis meeting
17/05/2012 00:00:00
by Gilbert Nyambabvu

THE Zanu PF politburo met for seven hours Wednesday in a “no holds barred” meeting aimed at tackling deepening divisions ahead of crucial elections the party insists must be held this year.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, party spokesman Rugare Gumbo said: “People are not happy. The President is also not happy with what is happening, but we (Zanu-PF) have survived a lot of crises.

“We have had a number of crises, but we always resolve them. We are happy we have been open and frank to each other. This is the best Politburo meeting we have had for some time.”

And in apparent refference to speculation President Robert Mugabe's would be successors were teeing up for the top job and worsening divisions, Gumbo said the party had reaffirmed its current leadership structure, headed by the veteran leader and his two deputies, Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo.

“There is no split. There is one President, two Vice-Presidents, National Chairman (Simon Khaya Moyo) and a Secretary for Administration (Didymus Mutasa). If you are organising somewhere, then you are a destabilising force. The party recognises the structure that is there,” Gumbo said.

Factionalism appears to have worsened in the party as the succession front-runners position themselves to take-over power amid speculation over Mugabe’s health and, at 88, his ability to see through another punishing election showdown MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

A privately-owned weekly last week quoted Defence Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa – who is said to lead one of the main Zanu PF factions against another backing Mujuru – as saying he was “ready to rule”.

But Gumbo insisted that should the need to choose another leader arise the party would respect its hierarchy according to which Mnangagwa does not have a prayer since he is behind Mujuru, Nkomo, Moyo and Mutasa.

He also said Wednesdays meeting agreed that Mugabe remained the party’s candidate for the new elections.

“We re-affirmed that elections will be held this year and our candidate will be President Mugabe … the politburo also wants the issue (of the constitution) completely resolved by the end of this month (so that elections can go ahead),” he said.

Meanwhile, the politburo also ordered its national commissar, Webster Shamu to deal with problems in party structures across the country where a restructuring exercise has degenerated into chaos with allegations of vote buying and the imposition of candidates.

“We had an extensive discussion and there were a lot of areas of concern. We talked about the imposition of candidates and elections not having been run in a democratic manner,” Gumbo said.

“People spoke their mind. Where there have been errors, we need to look into that. There are areas where there is need to re- look and ensure that things are done properly.

“We will give the political commissar another chance to go into areas where there is concern and, if he needs to nullify the results, he will nullify and we will have re-runs.”

Labels: RUGARE GUMBO, WEBSTER SHAMU, ZANU-PF

posted by MrK @ 6:31 PM