Glen View South Member of Parliament, Vincent Tsvangirai, has said he has not left the MDC-T but is just ashamed to be associated with what was done by party leader Douglas Mwonzora.
Tsvangirai is the son of Morgan Tsvangirai the late founding leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
In an interview with Open Parly, Tsvangirai said if Mwonzora is still the party leader, he will see out his term but will not contest in 2023. He said:
The national council that took place on the 20th of November in my opinion was a shame and a disgrace to democracy and what MDC stands for. In my opinion, it was what may be considered what breaks the camel’s back.
The MDC in its acronym is democracy, to say what took place was democratic, should be rejected by anyone who believes in democratic practices.
I have not left MDC, I love my party, but I am ashamed of my leader, and I did not think that Douglas Mwonzora would go to that extent to preserve his position.
Those who are in the MDC who are genuine about the struggle and what the MDC stands for should reject and utterly shame the process that took place on the 20th.
I will serve out the rest of my term and don’t think I will contest in 2023 under the presidency of Douglas Mwonzora. My principles will not allow it and I cannot go to the people and say please vote for us we want to deliver change in this country and democracy when we are not practicing it ourselves.
We must lead by example and then go to the people and request their support because we believe in what we are fighting for, but what we did on Sunday was nothing that we can go to the people and say we stand for this. That is my opinion I cannot recognize such a process.
Tsvangirai added that the MDC-T has failed to adhere to its own constitution, something which triggered a leadership crisis in the party in 2018.
His remarks come after an MDC-T national council meeting allegedly endorsed Mwonzora as party leader ahead of the 5th congress.
The same meeting also endorsed Mwonzora as the party’s candidate for the 2023 Presidential elections allegedly without following proper procedure.
Tsvangirai said Mwonzora failed or neglected to ensure a secret ballot and that could have intimidated other aspiring candidates.
He added that other aspiring candidates were not aware that there was going to be voting, and the people who were supposed to vote were also not aware of the process.