{{MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai failed to explain to his supporters in Mutare how the harmonised elections were “stolen’’ and ended up grudgingly admitting that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF prevailed and have the mandate to form Government over the next five years.}}
This follows an admission by the party’s Matabeleland North provincial leadership which attributed the party’s loss to a poor manifesto, imposition of candidates and shambolic structures.
Addressing his party’s 14th anniversary celebrations at Sakubva Stadium in Mutare on Saturday that had been touted as the platform to reveal “What Happened’’ on July 31, Mr Tsvangirai regurgitated the mantra that failed to find purchase in the courts.
“Although (President) Mugabe was inaugurated as President of the country and a Government is now there, we will continue to remind them that they did not win the elections. But if they are insisting that they won, we are saying go ahead and govern. Give the people what you promised during the campaigns.”
MDC-T was conceived by three British political parties — Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats — who came together under the Westminster Foundation for Democracy to launch the party on a ZCTU platform in a bid to depose Zanu-PF and halt the land reform programme.
Since then, the Western-sponsored party has successively lost elections, plunging to its worst defeat on July 31 where Mr Tsvangirai was trounced by President Mugabe who garnered 61,09 percent of the vote to Mr Tsvangirai’s 33,94.
Zanu-PF also dominated the 210 National Assembly constituencies, clinching 160 seats to MDC-T’s 49 with the remaining seat going to an independent candidate.
Despite growing calls, including from the party’s Rhodesian element for his resignation as party leader, Mr Tsvangirai insisted he will remain at the helm until they had the opportunity to win elections in the future.
“What is the way forward? Where do we go from here? As a party and leadership we have been talking to the people.
“The way forward is for us to maintain our mass line and continue to actively engage the people of Zimbabwe, to have perennial dialogue with the people. From today onwards, we will come to your villages, we will come to your districts and provinces talking about how we can go forward,” he said.
{Herald}
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