President Robert Mugabe’s push for early elections before the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement came off the rails last Friday following Zanu PF’s decision to disband party District Coordinating Committees (DCCs) countrywide to quell the divisive factionalism raging in the party.
The move could spell doom for the party which could find it difficult to pick up the pieces and rally its supporters into an early election in the absence of key grassroots structures like the DCCs.
But party secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa was yesterday adamant election plans would not be deflated by the contentious DCC issues, saying: “We will go on with the elections as planned. The position that elections be held next year is an MDC position.”
Announcing the decision during a Zanu PF central committee on Friday, Mugabe said the politburo had observed that the widespread divisions that have rocked the party had been traced back to the DCCs.
The divisions, which had kept party political commissar Webster Shamu on his toes, were reportedly a manifestation of the infighting centred on the Zanu PF succession race.
Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa reportedly lead factions vying to succeed the 88-year-old Mugabe, although both have publicly denied harbouring presidential ambitions.
A top Zanu PF official told NewsDay yesterday: “The DCCs were responsible for rallying support for the party at grassroots level and without them, the party needs to come up with a new campaign strategy, and this will need time to communicate the messages to districts.”
According to party insiders, provincial leaders have been asked to take charge of business at district level, with reports that soon after DCCs were dissolved, provincial members immediately travelled to the districts to inform their structures of the changes.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said members of the disbanded committees would either be co-opted into provincial structures or “simply go home and rest and wait for new opportunities in the party (in the future)”.
However, political analyst and Sapes Trust executive director Ibbo Mandaza said: “One thing is now obvious, that elections will no longer be held this year. Zanu PF now needs to go back to the drawing board.
“Those who were using the DCCs for their political gains are in trouble. It means undoing their political agendas. They will become isolated and exposed. The succession battle is over in favour of peaceful logical transition of power according to the party hierarchy as it has always been a tradition in national politics.”
Even if the elections were to be held, party sources said Mugabe would likely face humiliating defeat as disgruntled members of the disbanded DCCs who had spent huge sums of money campaigning for DCC posts were tempted to sabotage the party in the forthcoming elections.
“Some people sold their beasts to campaign in the DCCs and now that they are disbanded, all is lost,” said one insider who refused to be named. He warned of a repeat of operation bhoramusango which characterised the 2008 general elections where aspiring Zanu PF MPs begged voters to vote for them, but not for Mugabe. The result was Mugabe’s electoral defeat to MDC-T leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
A bitter DCC party member in Bikita district said Mugabe’s move was tantamount to “attacking a snake by its tail” and warned it could have dire consequences for Mugabe.
“Disbanding DCCs will not help, but fuel more antagonism in the party. The party was supposed to tackle those who were sponsoring factional disputes in the DCCs,” the party official said. Political analyst Alexander Rusero also described the decision as a “grave error” on the part of Zanu PF.
“The move could backfire because the DCCs were the spinal cord of the party. Without DCCs, Zanu PF becomes a boardroom party,” Rusero said. He warned that Zanu PF factional fights could now be exported from the DCCs to the central committee and politburo.
