FEATURE: Washington ’troubled’ over recall of opposition MPs from Zimbabwe parliament

Popular opposition figure Tendai Biti of the MDC-Alliance is among those ousted.

PRETORIA, March 28 (ANA) – The United States government said it is troubled by the recall of popular Zimbabwean opposition figure Tendai Biti, the MDC-Alliance vice-president and member of parliament for Harare East, along with other MPs who were ousted from the Zimbabwean parliament after their party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), communicated that they no longer represented it.

Last week, speaker of the National Assembly in Zimbabwe advocate Jacob Mudenda announced the expulsion of Biti and other parliamentarians after he received a letter from Benjamin Rukanda, secretary-general of Biti’s old party, the PDP. The little-known PDP had requested Mudenda to expel Biti and the other parliamentarians who had crossed the floor after joining the Zimbabwean parliament on the PDP ticket.

State media in Zimbabwe reported that the other members who were recalled include William Madzimure, Settlement Chikwinya, Kucaca Ivumile Phulu, Sichelesile Mahlangu and Regai Tsunga.

Reacting to the expulsion, the United States government said it was following events in Zimbabwe closely, including the “troubling moves on March 17 to strip Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC-A) vice-president Tendai Biti and other MDC Alliance members of their elected seats” in parliament.

“Since March 2020, parliamentary manoeuvres supported by the Zimbabwean government have led to the ouster of 39 MDC Alliance MPs and 81 local elected officials. These actions subvert the will of voters, further undermine democracy and deny millions of Zimbabwean citizens their chosen representation,” said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a statement.

“We continue to monitor efforts by the government to dismantle the MDC Alliance through the arrest and detention of its leaders and diversion of its assets. We also note the government’s selective enforcement of Covid-19 regulations to indefinitely postpone by-elections and prohibit MDC Alliance gatherings, while permitting internal elections and gatherings for the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) party and its allies to go forward.”

Price accused Zanu PF of “misusing” levers of government to silence critics, neutralise opposition and entrench its political power over the Zimbabwean people.

“We call on the government of Zimbabwe to comply with its obligation to respect the freedoms of expression and association enshrined in Zimbabwe’s constitution and its international commitments,” said Price.

Concurring with Price, the South African branch of the MDC-A said Washington was amplifying the sentiments of the Zimbabwean populace.

“The USA is just confirming our concerns as Zimbabweans. The MPs were elected by the people not by ED (Zimbabwean President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa) and his cronies. The Harare regime is using its own surrogates sponsored by ED’s friends to eliminate legitimate MPs from parliament,” MDC-A chairperson in South Africa Trust Ndlovu told the African News Agency (ANA).

“It’s a way of trying to weaken and silence the opposition. It is good for a powerful nation of old democracy to add its voice against such abuse of state power.”

Newly formed, Zimbabwean opposition party The Patriotic Front (TPF) agreed with the MDC-Alliance.

“We share the concerns of the US government, more so because these are the concerns of the Zimbabwean populace as a whole. It is quite unfortunate that more than 40 years after independence, Zimbabwe has, instead of moving into a full-fledged democracy, chosen to sink deeper into the abyss of dictatorship,” said TPF secretary for information and communication Mxolisi Ncube.

“It is common knowledge that rhetoric from those in control of the governing party clearly sounds a warning of their continued push to re-establish a one-party state in Zimbabwe, and their actions of decimating not only the MDC-Alliance, but the opposition as a whole, speaks to that push. It is because of the situation on the ground that TPF is calling on the SADC, AU and the international community to intervene and facilitate dialogue that will drag Zimbabwe back to a country that respects all personal and political freedoms.”

Ncube said Zimbabwe “cannot continue on the current destructive path”.

However, Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF hit back, saying the governing party cannot be blamed for what is happening in the opposition parties, particularly the MDC Alliance.

“Zanu PF is a principled party with values which each cherishes and has no business whatsoever in meddling in the politics and organisation of the opposition parties. The recall of MDC-A vice-president Tendai Biti and other MPs has nothing to do with Zanu PF.

“The Zimbabwean constitution is very clear on who can recall MPs from parliament and the reasons why such recall can be done.

“Furthermore, it must be made very clear without ambiguity that Zanu PF is not PDP the party that recalled Tendai Biti and others, and has no interest or benefit derived from recalling Tendai Biti and others,” spokesperson Kennedy Mandaza told ANA in Pretoria.

“The United States Department of State must understand that Zanu PF has no intention, is not involved and has no interest in dismantling the MDC-A and any other opposition in Zimbabwe. We value their participation in the Zimbabwean politics; hence the creation of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) platform by His Excellency President Mnangagwa to which he invited and still continues to invite all political actors in the country.”

Mandaza said it was misplaced for Washington to suggest that Zanu PF seeks to neutralise opposition players and silence critics.

“The US Department of State if it has interest in Zimbabweans they should look further than Tendai Biti and MDC-A and seek the truth in relation to what is happening in the MDC-A which Zanu PF has nothing to do with. They should rather call for the MDC-A and its leaders to follow their constitution and respect the democratic principles enshrined in their constitution,” said Mandaza.

“We reiterate that Zanu PF has and will continue to comply with its obligation to respect the freedom of expression and association as enshrined in the Zimbabwean constitution.”

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher