MDC Alliance (MDC-A) president Nelson Chamisa is unwilling to abandon the MDC ‘brand’ and form a new party with a different name as he feels that he will be betraying the party’s founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai who succumbed to cancer in February 2018, The Anchor reports.
The Anchor says it has established that MDC-A supporters wanted Chamisa to form a new political party, a move he was reportedly not in favour of. The publication quoted its sources as having said:
He feels he will be betraying Morgan Tsvangirai by forming a new political party. He wants to take the Khupe-led faction and ZANU PF head-on.
Chamisa has been considering what the supporters are saying but last week he vowed not to form a new party.
Chamisa and his team are just waiting for the right time to strike because they have crafted their own responses to Mwonzora’s games and they also believe the erstwhile secretary-general would soon run out of ideas.
Chamisa’ spokesperson, Nkululeko Sibanda, accused the ruling ZANU PF party of using Thokozani Khupe to destroy the MDC-A in order to create a one-party state in Zimbabwe. Said Sibanda:
President Chamisa has noted very clearly that what is happening now is akin to what Mnangagwa has done before which is to try and create a de-facto one-party state in Zimbabwe.
On Saturday, Khupe’s party announced that its candidates in impending council and parliamentary by-elections will contest under the MDC Alliance.
This only amplified the voices urging Chamisa to drop the ‘toxic’ MDC brand and form a new party.
Changing the party name does not and will not in anyway betray Morgan Richard Tsvangirayi’s legacy but protect the party’s ideology and ethos. To Mr. Nelson Chamisa, I say it’s high time you make this move of a party name change and ready yourself for the next elections come 2023 or whenever that is or will be. You have the multitudes on your side as numbers don’t lie, the people will support you even all the same.
You now need to hit the ground running and ensure that you have trustworthy cadres who are for the people and not wolves in sheeps skin as we have seen in recent months.You have inspired the youths and they will rally behind you.Keep the faith