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NewsDay

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MDC-T's Elias Mudzuri to bounce back

Politics
The MDC-T’s newly elected national standing committee looks set to extricate rejected Elias Mudzuri from the political wilderness by co-opting him into the national executive. Mudzuri, a long-standing member of the MDC-T, lost his powerful portfolio of national organising secretary to Nelson Chamisa but looks set to bounce back into the national executive of the […]

The MDC-T’s newly elected national standing committee looks set to extricate rejected Elias Mudzuri from the political wilderness by co-opting him into the national executive.

Mudzuri, a long-standing member of the MDC-T, lost his powerful portfolio of national organising secretary to Nelson Chamisa but looks set to bounce back into the national executive of the party after the newly-elected national standing committee yesterday discussed his possible return to the fold.

The newly-elected national executive of the MDC-T held their first meeting yesterday since their election into office two weeks ago.

News that Mudzuri was likely to bounce back come amid reports MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai was set to reshuffle ministers from his party in Cabinet in a move aimed at accommodating his former organising secretary.

However, sources last night said the discussions would be carried forward to next week and most probably a decision would be made then.

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said yesterday’s meeting discussed the appointment of party members into posts that were not up for grabs during the tense congress in Bulawayo.

“Generally, we discussed appointments that should be made in terms of the constitution,” Mwonzora said. “The congress doesn’t vote for everyone who should be in the national standing committee. The constitution allows room for appointments.”

He did not say whether Mudzuri would be appointed to any post or not but a source said: “Mudzuri’s issue will be known when the national council meets probably next week but he is coming in as a member of the national executive.”

Apart from discussing issues to do with appointments into the national standing committee, Mwonzora said, they also reviewed the just ended congress and the state of the party.

“We were reviewing the congress and getting an update of the state of the party from the president. We touched on issues of appointments in terms of the congress resolutions,’ he said.

Last week a subdued Mudzuri said he was in self-imposed political hibernation and doing self-introspection over his political career.

“I am doing self-introspection over my career,” he told the Independent. “This is not only about the congress but a reflection of my political career. There is no need to rush to make a decision about the future. I am taking a brief break.”

Mudzuri’s political misfortunes are legendary. He resoundingly won the Harare executive mayoral vote in 2002 only to be ousted two years later by Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo on unsubstantiated allegations of maladministration and defying ministerial directives.

After the harmonised elections in 2008 Mudzuri was appointed Energy and Power Development minister in the coalition government only to be dropped in a mini-reshuffle last year.