MDC ready for congress

The Movement for Democratic Change today said it was satisfied with the preparations for its congress to be held this month and said the congress will not just be about elections but will set up the roadmap to the next elections.

In a statement issued after the party’s national executive meeting, the MDC said its congress will focus on issues affecting the people of Zimbabwe because the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front is concentrating on internal fights than challenges facing the people.

The party also resolved that candidates nominated for more than one position have one week to decide which position they will stand for.

“The executive was satisfied with our Congress process so far. The party is satisfied that the party so far is living true to its democratic values. All indications are that we will have an exciting Congress, which we will be holding under the theme: Towards national convergence; Transforming our popularity into power,” the party said.

Full statement:

Saturday, 18 October 2014

MDC National Executive meets

The National Executive Committee of the MDC met today to review the provincial congresses as well as the just ended nomination processes and was happy that the process had proceeded peacefully.

The Executive also heard the report of the independent panel that oversaw the process. This independent panel concluded that our Congress to a very large extent passed the litmus test of being a truly credible process of  a democratic party. They also advised that there was room for improvement to make the processes less cumbersome.

The executive considered some appeals from the provinces arising out of the provincial congresses and the nomination process for national standing committee positions.

On the appeals, the executive resolved the following:

1. Mashonaland Central: The appeal by the outgoing chairperson was dismissed on the grounds that it had no merit.
2. Mashonaland East: The executive resolved that the appeal by the outgoing organizer had merit. The executive acknowledged the error in not upholding his confirmation and resolved to accommodate both the elected organizer and the complainant.
3. Mashonaland West: The appeal was dismissed on the grounds of lacking merit.
4. Manicaland: The executive recognized the legitimacy of the processes but also acknowledged that there was much work to rectify the district congress and unite the party structures.
5. Bulawayo: The national executive dismissed Mr Matson Hlalo’s appeal to the national executive and resolved to suspend him for a pending disciplinary case. We resolved to comply with the court order and to appoint an acting chairperson while dealing with other internal issues of the party.

Conclusion

The executive was satisfied with our Congress process so far. The party is satisfied that the party so far is living true to its democratic values. All indications are that we will have an exciting Congress, which we will be holding under the theme: “Towards national convergence; Transforming our popularity into power”.

The executive also resolved that those nominated on more than one position should be given a week to consider on which position they wish to stand.

Our Congress is going to have more business to transact than simply elections. Our Congress will also adopt a roadmap to the next election and debate various other proposals on constitutional review, policy review and institutional review.

So far, we are confident that we will transact all the important business in the in the interest of the people of Zimbabwe who since the last election have endured lack of political leadership as the party is concentrating more on internal fights than the challenges facing the people.

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