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