Biti to know his fate today

Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti will know whether he will retain his parliamentary seat or not today after Speaker Jacob Mudenda makes a decision. Biti who led a group of nine other legislators and other party officials to suspend party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other senior officials including the national chairman Lovemore Moyo and organising secretary Nelson Chamisa was in turn expelled from the party which is now seeking parliament to recall the seats. The current constitution says if a legislator leaves or is expelled from his party, he or she loses the seat which belongs to the party. Biti wrote to Mudenda saying he should not entertain the request because such a request should come from the party’s secretary-general. The Tsvangirai faction says some of the legislators are likely to abandon Biti and go back to the main wing, while the Biti faction says more legislators are waiting to join them. Today’s ruling is likely to mark the official split of the party because either way, Mudenda’s ruling will lead to two factions- one loyal to Biti and the other to Tsvangirai. In the last split in 2005, each faction retained the MPs who sided with it.

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