Statement of David Coltart regarding his political future
I am very proud to have been a founder member of the MDC and to have been part of the courageous struggle of the MDC during the last seven years to bring an end to tyranny in Zimbabwe. In particular I was proud to be part of a united organisation that transcended the tribal, ethnic, racial and gender divisions which have plagued Zimbabwe for so long. Accordingly from the moment I became aware of the very serious divisions which emerged within the MDC in late 2004 I have been convinced that I should do all in my power to keep the party united and focused on defeating tyranny.
I believe that the split in the MDC we have observed in the last seven months has been a betrayal of the struggle for democracy and a betrayal of the massive sacrifices made by so many Zimbabweans. Because of that, although I had very strong views as to who and what was to blame for these divisions, I believed that I should do everything possible, within my own limited power, to try to reconcile the opposing factions and failing that to mediate an amicable divorce between the two factions. As is now public knowledge, those efforts came to an end when the faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai declined my offer to mediate in early May.
Since then I have consulted widely within my constituency and elsewhere. I have held several public and private meetings to consult with and listen to people. I have spoken to a wide variety of old friends, supporters and people I trust regarding what I should do. For reasons I have already explained in other public documents I cannot join the faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai. That has left me with three remaining options, namely: to resign from politics altogether and to go back to civil society, to become an independent or to join the faction led by Arthur Mutambara.
An overwhelming majority of the people I consulted were not in favour of me leaving politics. Indeed only one person felt I should do so. A small number of people were in favour of me becoming an independent. However I am convinced that that is simply not feasible for both constitutional and practical reasons. Indeed given the direct and indirect attacks on me by members of the faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai it has become apparent to me that remaining an independent would be increasingly untenable.
A majority of those who have come to my meetings and who have written to me have expressed to me that they understand why it is impossible for me to join the Tsvangirai faction and support me in that decision.
I must now move on. For the last seven months I have been in a state of limbo and I believe it is imperative that I resume my work in this collective struggle to bring freedom and democracy to Zimbabwe. I believe that I will be more effective working in conjunction with colleagues who share a similar vision for a new Zimbabwe and who are committed to using the same means as I am to reach that goal. I should also state that I find myself in an invidious position in that I would far rather remain in a united MDC than join any faction, but that clearly is not possible now.
With this in mind during the last few weeks I have met with leaders of what I perceive to be the pro-democracy faction of the MDC and in particular with Arthur Mutambara. I have been encouraged by these discussions and in particular by the following:
1. Their agreement to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate and remedy all the violence which has afflicted the MDC since September 2004;
2. Their stated commitment to adopt a zero tolerance disciplinary approach to any future acts of violence within the MDC;
3. The acceptable assurances that I have been given regarding their commitment to engage in peaceful, constitutional and, most importantly, nonviolent forms of mass action designed to get the ZANU PF regime to agree to a new constitution and free and fair elections;
4. Their commitment to respecting all the policy decisions taken at the December 2003 conference of the MDC, in particular the resolution to press for a victim orientated Truth Commission which will investigate all human rights abuses, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide which have been perpetrated in Zimbabwe since 1965;
5. The acceptable assurances that I have received of their intention to rebrand the pro-democracy faction of the MDC, to end as soon as possible the present confusion experienced by the Zimbabwean electorate following the division of the MDC into two factions.
Accordingly I have now decided to formally align myself with the pro-democracy faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara. In stating this I should stress that I will continue to work within the pro-democracy faction and with friends and colleagues in the faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai to unite the two factions. I remain absolutely convinced that the struggle for democracy will remain severely handicapped for so long as we are divided.
I am pleased that I have been able to make this decision after the result of the Budiriro by-election. Since adopting my position of neutrality seven months ago I have been accused of fence sitting, which also implies that I have been waiting to see which way the wind would blow. I trust that my decision today will lay to rest those accusations. I have solely based my decision on principle and am pleased that no one can now accuse me of acting expediently in the aftermath of the Budiriro by-election. Indeed I would rather lose my seat in Parliament than compromise certain principles that are fundamental to my belief system.
The Budiriro by-election shows that the pro-democracy faction of the MDC has a mountain to climb if it is ever to govern Zimbabwe. However I am not impressed by mere numbers. I was never impressed by the overwhelming majority of support ZANU PF received in the 1980s when its leaders were then committing crimes against humanity. Likewise today the mere fact that the faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai won so convincingly in Budiriro does not in itself persuade me to join that faction.
In this regard the words of Thomas Jefferson in his inaugural address delivered on the 4 March 1801 are pertinent:
“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”
The pursuit of freedom is never an easy task. There is always the temptation to take shortcuts and to compromise regarding the means of reaching the goal of liberty. In this regard I have been very impressed by the courage and determination shown by my colleagues in the pro-democracy faction in the face of unjustified and sometimes vicious attacks simply for standing up for what they believe in. I remain convinced that unless we stand on principle and for what we know is right this long and desolate night of tyranny will continue in Zimbabwe, albeit under another guise. We will only change Zimbabwe for the better if we change our own ways first - that is the very essence of “chinja maitiro”.
Accordingly I now look forward to putting my shoulder to the wheel with colleagues of a similar mind so that we, working in conjunction with democratic compatriots in other organisations, can bring this long night to an end and usher in a new dawn of democracy and freedom to Zimbabwe.
God bless Zimbabwe.
The Hon. David Coltart MP
Bulawayo South
15th June 2006
June 17th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Hon Coltart, whilst i respect ypur decision, i really would like you to do some soul searching and find out how you as an individual can make a difference in Zimbabwe. i am one Zimbo who doesnt believe in the blame politics and i believe in using our positive energies to bring about change and build the Zimbabwe that we and our children and their children after them can be proud of. i am not going to tell you that your decision to join the Mutambara faction and not the other one is good or bad because that is really the duty of your constituency the people who voted for you in the first place. i just hope they agree with you.
you see one thing that you our politicians have not really done well is to go back to the people and ask us what we really think about things. as a result you have ended up fighting amongst yourselves at the expense of the real struggle that Zimbabwe faces and the job of supporters has just been to support whatever you decide. input from the masses is very important, and that is why the Liberation war was sustained. even in any organisation you need those people on the groung to have an input because then can we talk about democracy. honestly i dont know if any Zimbos were ever consulted. i will continue later
June 25th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Zimbabwe thought we had leaders when u pple built the mdc, with all the intellectuals coming together we looked up to a bright future but alas, you and your bulawayo pals had an agenda. Pliz stop rubbishing Tsvangirai it wont dent his popularity. You should be intelligent enough to know that, and the pple of zim are not stupid to fail to see that welshman ncube single handedly roped in mutambara to make believe this is not a tribal issue and u dont see that as undemocratic.
This to me is chicken brains
July 3rd, 2006 at 7:57 pm
Kahla - I agree that blame politics doesn’t help if that is an end in itself. However we must understand what lies at the root of the Zimbabwean crisis and I am convinced that violence is a key issue. You cannot get better unless you understand what the illness is and treat it vigorously with appropriate medicine. If you just ignore and illness it can kill you and that is precisely why Zimbabwe is dying as a nation today. Please rest assured that I have consulted widely in my constituency and elsewhere for the last 7 months. I have had a series of public and private meetings; I have circulated 10000 copies of a newsletter asking people to respond; I have spoken on Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa; I have consulted with people like Archbishop Pius Ncube and others; I have listened very carefully to what people have said. Only at the end of that process have I made a decision, and then reluctantly.
Kind regards
David
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:00 pm
From: Daniel Ndebele, Birmingham UK
Date: 16 June 2006
Message: I know you have heard it a thousand times already but as my MP I would like to offer my support on the decision you have taken. I for one don’t believe that you will lose your seat to anyone either ZANU or Tsvangirai’s faction. If by the will of God you do, just know that 1 vote you got came from me.
Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors.
D.Ndebele
From: Martin Takawira, Leeds, UK
Date: 16 June 2006
Message: Mr Coltart
It is with sad feeling that I read of you joining the Mutambara faction. As you yourself have said the split brings back the struggle for Zimbabwe independence years back. I would have preferred you remain neutral for a lot longer and continued your efforts to unite the 2 fractions. I do think that it’s far too early to expect a reunion. The wounds are still fresh and emotions still too high. A year cooling period would not have been a long time. I have no doubt you did try your best and we thank you for your efforts but I also think you have made the wrong decision. This is having read your reasons and having the benefit of meeting Tsvangirai during his recent UK tour. Again thank you for your efforts and hopefully we meet soon in a free Zimbabwe.
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:00 pm
Daniel - Thank you for your encouraging words. One thing is for certain - if God wants me to continue nothing and nobody will frustrate His purposes!
Martin - Thank you for your kind and considerate remarks. I must stress that I found this a very painful decision to make and would rather have remained neutral.
However I found that I was becoming very isolated and the one side in particular had commenced a rather vicious attack on me which left me very exposed without support from colleagues. I will continue my efforts to seek reconciliation and agree with you that may yet be possible.
Regards
David
June 27th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Hon Coltart. My comment is coming a little bit late but hope it will serve the purpose. Whereas you have made a decision to join the pro-democracy faction, which any fair minded person would have done, i still believe you have a lot to do in as far as nursing democracy is concerned. From the events and activities on the ground, it is abundantly clear that Zimbabwe is far from attaining any democracy,. may be not in the foreseeable future given the torture and barbaric assaults on those advocating for democracy. I therefore trust that you made your decision knowing pretty well the likely consequences of divided force. It is true that the struggle for democracy will remain handicapped. However, i have read in the recent publications that eeforts are being made to form a coalition between the two factions. On this backdrop, one can start thinking of fruitful struggle for democracy.
I have also had benefit to go through Prof Mutambara’s opinion on newzimbabwe.com of the 24th of June 2007, which, to my view, is the way to go. Ofcourse Im not privileged to know the nitty gritties of the parameters used in an effort to unite two factions, but would want to know when we are likely to hear once voice of MDC. It will be total betrayal of the struggle, if you are to go for the elections divided (that’s if you choose to contest).
In conclusion, im impressed with your continued efforts and dedication towards bringing freedom and democracy to the once bluechip nation of Africa. For sure we have capacity and ability to economically compete with Europe, USA, Singapore and Malaysia, all we need to do is to do away with political illegitimacy and bad country governance. I believe your efforts and your collegues will rescue us from the mess of a merciless government that has reduced everyone to a destitute.
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Dear David
My question is: what next?