New Zimbabwe
Movement for Democratic Change peace maker David Coltart has said that chances of a reconciliation between the party’s feuding factions are now “very minimal” following the latest round of legal battles.
Coltart had proposed a five-point plan for possible negotiations for reunification or amicable divorce between the feuding parties.
In a letters written to Morgan Tsvangirai and his former deputy, Gibson Sibanda, now a member of a rival faction on February 20, the Bulawayo South MP expressed opposition and warned of the dangers of matters between the two parties being settled in the courts.
Coltart warned in his letter: “If the Zimbabwean courts are entrusted with the role of settling these issues that will itself play into the hands of the Mugabe regime. If both factions cannot agree to settle these disputes they will in essence give the regime the power to decide through the courts how long they want this conflict to go on for and who ultimately they want to deal with.
“I have no doubt that the spectacle of opposition leaders fighting each other in court and wrangling over names and assets will greatly diminish those same politicians in the eyes of the Zimbabwean electorate.”
This week, a faction of the MDC led by former NASA scientist, Professor Arthur Mutambara took Tsvangirai’s group to court over a party vehicle which was violently seized in Harare. A High Court judge granted an order for the car to be returned.
On Thursday, Coltart said: “The Zimbabwean public is not impressed by the spectre of the MDC fighting in the courts. I think the chances of reconciliation are now very minimal. The parties still have to meet on how the divorce should take place.”
The MDC split last November over a contentious debate around the party’s participation in senate elections. Tsvangirai opposed participation, while some of his senior colleagues felt otherwise and when the two groups couldn’t reconcile their positions, a split became inevitable.