The Cape Argus (SA)
Morgan Tsvangirai has been suspended as president of the Zimbabwe opposition MDC, at least according to the party’s constitution. MDC legal secretary David Coltart, who has refused to be aligned to either side in a dispute which has ripped the party apart, said that according to Article 10.4 of the founding constitution, the disciplinary committee had the power to suspend anyone. Coltart was disturbed by the letter of suspension delivered on Saturday during the senate election, which the MDC lost. “I question the wisdom of taking this action at this point in time,” he said. The disciplinary committee is chaired by vice-president Gibson Sibanda, who met three other members, including lawyer Josphat Tshuma, in Bulawayo last week. They drew up the letter and sent it to Tsvangirai. At first Tsvangirai reacted by claiming that he could not be suspended, but yesterday, via his spokesman William Bango, he said: “I don’t want to get bogged down in legal interpretations. This is a political problem and would have to be sorted out politically.”