Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai told United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell that he was going to address nationwide rallies to maintain momentum, especially outside the capital, adding that President Robert Mugabe’s weakening security forces would be stretched by such tactics.
The stepped up pressure was supported by party secretary general Tendai Biti, national organising secretary Elias Mudzuri and spokesman Nelson Chamisa all of whom had separate briefings with the ambassador.
Tsvangirai said the overwhelming turnout at his party’s special congress had shown who had the support.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 06HARARE424, REENERGIZED ANTI-SENATE MDC WING PLANS INCREASED
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO9099
RR RUEHMR
DE RUEHSB #0424/01 1011128
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111128Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9859
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1184
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1018
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1187
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0023
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0448
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0807
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1241
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 3597
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1012
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1645
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1399
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HARARE 000424
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2015
SUBJECT: REENERGIZED ANTI-SENATE MDC WING PLANS INCREASED
RESISTANCE
REF: A. REF A: HARARE 355
¶B. REF B: HARARE 95
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell for reasons 1.5 b/d
——-
Summary
——-
¶1. (C) In a series of separate meetings with the Ambassador,
leaders of the anti-Senate faction of the MDC depicted an
opposition party that was reenergized by a successful
Congress and prepared to confront the regime with greater
energy and focus. Morgan Tsvangirai said he would conduct
nationwide rallies to maintain momentum, especially outside
of the capital, noting that the regime’s weakening security
forces would be stretched by such tactics. Tsvangirai added
that there had been no discussions for several weeks with the
rival pro-Senate MDC faction. He said the respective
Congresses had shown who had the public,s support.
¶2. (C) Echoing Tsvangirai’s support for stepped up
resistance, Secretary General Tendai Biti and Organizing
Secretary Elias Mudzuri separately said that they were
SIPDIS
working intensively to rebuild the party’s infrastructure,
damaged by the split, and this would pave the way for more
vigorous opposition to the regime soon after. Secretary for
Information Nelson Chamisa added that the party was trying to
develop better communication strategies and training
supporters to overcome fears of security force violence n
preparation for demonstrations. Separately, the Ambassador
also met in the same time period with MDC MP David Coltart.
Coltart claimed to still be neutral but leaning towards the
pro-Senate faction, calling the anti-Senate faction,s
leadership weak. End Summary.
——————————————— ——
Tsvangirai: Congress Builds Momentum Against Regime
SIPDIS
——————————————— ——
¶3. (C) Tsvangirai told the Ambassador on March 29 that the
party’s Congress (ref A) had emboldened the opposition and
granted its leadership a renewed mandate to confront the
regime. The number of attendees had exceeded even the
party’s own expectations, and established which of the MDC’s
factions had the support of the people. This was doubly
significant in that most of the 18,000 delegates paid their
own way to the Congress. Asked by the Ambassador how the
party planned to maintain the momentum following the
Congress, Tsvangirai said that he would launch a series of
rallies nationwide to introduce the party’s new leadership
and to build support for resistance. (N.B. According to
independent media accounts, rallies in Gweru and Masvingo
held during the weekend of April 1-2 drew a combined 20,000
supporters. Meanwhile, a rally in Harare’s high-density
suburb of Chitungwiza over the past weekend drew another
20,000 supporters, Tsvangirai’s largest crowd ever there.
Adding to the significance of these crowds is the large
number of older men and women, as opposed to most rallies
that are traditionally attended by mostly younger men.)
¶4. (C) The Congress had acknowledged the limitations on
pursuing power solely through the electoral route and had
endorsed stepped up resistance to the regime through all
peaceful means, including disobedience and civil resistance,
according to Tsvangirai. He agreed with the Ambassador’s
comment that we seem to be witnessing the dying days of the
regime, adding that recognition of this has generated renewed
willingness among the people to confront ZANU-PF, especially
given the country,s economic problems.
HARARE 00000424 002 OF 004
¶5. (C) After the party had gone through a brief period of
institution building, Tsvangirai said the MDC and its civil
society partners would create an “eye of the storm” in Harare
and Bulawayo, but would not neglect the rural areas ) “the
regime’s Achilles’ heel,” according to Tsvangirai – where the
people were increasingly disgusted with the government and
the security forces were stretched thin. The party planned
to develop strategies to exploit the regime’s relative
weakness outside the two largest urban areas to further
stretch their resources prior to tackling the capital city.
Tsvangirai admitted the urban-based MDC had not previously
SIPDIS
done enough party building and organizational work,
especially in the rural districts, but was setting about
remedying this mistake.
¶6. (C) Replying to the Ambassador’s question about efforts
to address the MDC split, Tsvangirai said it was no longer an
issue. He added that there had been no overtures concerning
reunification or amicable divorce for several weeks. The two
factions would likely go their separate ways for the time
being. Referring to some in the diplomatic community who
bemoan the MDC’s factionalism, Tsvangirai said that those who
had emphasized the split had missed the real objective, which
was to develop a more coherent approach within his wing of
the MDC in order to better confront the regime. He agreed
with the Ambassador’s suggestion that two factions could
potentially cover more political ground as separate parties
with different approaches but a common goal. Tsvangirai also
suggested that an alliance before the next elections might
also still be possible.
———————————–
Biti: Shoring Up Party’s Foundation
———————————–
¶7. (C) Secretary General Tendai Biti on April 3 confirmed
for the Ambassador that the anti-Senate faction,s new
leadership team was united and committed to confronting the
regime. He said his particular focus would be rebuilding the
party’s institutions to better support a sustained campaign
of resistance. Biti acknowledged that the split had damaged
the party,s institutions. He was especially critical of
pro-Senate members of the former leadership who had taken
computers, cars, and even the keys from the party’s
headquarters in Harare.
¶8. (C) Biti said even the phones were not working and that
the party was heavily in debt with few resources. Still, he
has confident that he could clean the mess up in a few
months. Noting that the new Treasurer, Roy Bennett, may have
to remain outside of the country for the time being, Biti
said he could prove useful as a fund raiser among the
Zimbabwean diaspora, adding that according to the party,s
new constitutional amendments, external assemblies needed to
be created in countries with large diasporas and Bennett
might organize those as well.
¶9. (C) Asked by the Ambassador for an update on his earlier
efforts to secure an amicable divorce between the two
factions (ref B), Biti replied that Welshman Ncube had
recently contacted him, but echoing Tsvangirai, Biti said the
issue had been placed on the backburner. Biti added that
there were already stark divisions emerging within the
pro-Senate faction, chiefly over the leadership of Arthur
Mutambara, who was not the faction’s first, second, or even
third choice. The self-promoting Mutambara and the
manipulative Ncube were destined to clash, to the detriment
of that faction.
HARARE 00000424 003 OF 004
——————————————— ——-
Mudzuri: Using New Position To Strengthen Grassroots
——————————————— ——-
¶10. (C) The new Organizing Secretary (and ousted Mayor of
Harare) Elias Mudzuri on March 23 told the Ambassador that
his role in revitalizing the party was to use his grass roots
appeal to mobilize people for democratic resistance. Mudzuri
said he would be returning to Harvard for a few months to
complete his Mason Fellowship leading to a Masters in Public
Policy and Management but expected to be back in Harare by
early summer to take up his new duties. Meanwhile, his
deputy would be working full time on organization issues.
Responding to Mudzuri’s plea for continued assistance, the
Ambassador replied that the USG was committed to helping
Zimbabwe and briefed Mudzuri on the range of USG programs in
support of civil society and democratic forces in Zimbabwe.
——————————————
Chamisa: Publicity Crucial To The Struggle
——————————————
¶11. (C) Secretary for Information and Harare MP Nelson
Chamisa on April 4 told the Ambassador that the party had
developed a program to prepare for challenging the regime.
This program included videos of successful peaceful
resistance in other countries to help people overcome their
fear and prepare for possible outcomes, including arrests,
injury, or even death. Chamisa confirmed that he, Tsangirai,
and other MDC leaders would place themselves personally at
the forefront of mass action in order to inspire and give
confidence to their supporters.
¶12. (C) Chamisa added an unsolicited plug for the Voice of
America’s (VOA) Studio 7 news broadcasts. He said that
although ZANU-PF was more divided than any of the opposition
parties, its control over the media enabled the ruling party
to hide its fractures. In that regard, Studio 7 provided the
critical service of exposing the GOZ’s cracks. Commenting
that “without VOA we are done,” Chamisa said that Studio 7
would help to galvanize participation in mass action. The
Ambassador offered Chamisa assistance in developing his
skills as a press spokesman, which Chamisa gladly accepted.
—————————–
Coltart: The Dissenter’s View
—————————–
¶13. (C) The Ambassador also met with MDC MP David Coltart,
on March 30. Coltart claimed he had remained neutral in the
MDC split, refusing to attend either Congress and refusing to
accept his election by the pro-Senate faction to a leadership
position. That said, he reiterated his earlier claim to the
Ambassador that while Tsvangirai clearly enjoyed the support
of the masses the pro-Senate faction had the lion,s share of
the MDC talent. Coltart said with the exception of Biti, the
people who surrounded Tsvangirai were incompetent or worse
and that even if they could organize mass action the
informers among them would reveal those plans to the GOZ.
——-
Comment
——-
¶14. (C) Over the past three weeks we have had a chance to
meet with most of the leadership of both MDC factions. In
our considered opinion, Coltart,s analysis is wrong. There
is a great deal of talent and energy among the anti-Senate
faction,s senior leadership. In fact, they were far more
impressive as a group than their pro-Senate opposite numbers.
HARARE 00000424 004 OF 004
Moreover, they were also remarkably unified in their message
to the Ambassador as opposed to the obvious tensions that
have already crept into the Mutambara/Ncube relationship.
Indeed, it has to be said that Mutambara seems to have
inherited undiminished the rivalries and divergent views that
formerly hamstrung Tsvangirai.
¶15. (C) Coltart is right, however, that Tsvangirai,s
faction has the grass roots appeal, which the recent
Congresses made abundantly clear, and we believe that they
are therefore better placed to put pressure on the regime.
Both MDC factions clearly sense the opportunity before them:
a weakened regime and a restive population. Both have
committed themselves publicly and privately to confronting
the regime, including through a campaign of peaceful
democratic resistance. However, only one faction,
Tsvangirai,s, presently has the necessary internal unity and
SIPDIS
external popularity to lead such an effort. Mutambara has an
uphill struggle ahead in building a popular base of support
as evidenced by the small and declining attendance at his
rallies ) in Chitungwiza he drew only 1,000 supporters a
week before Tsvangirai’s rally, according to the press.
Moreover, Tsvangirai’s defiant statement on April 9 in
Bulawayo that he is not afraid of death if it is the price of
freedom in response to recent public death threats from
Mugabe appears to have emboldened a population until recently
cowed by GOZ oppression. Of course, we have heard the bold
talk before and it has led to little, so it remains to be
seen whether this time will be any different. That said, we
were stuck by the unity evident among Tsvangirai’s group, as
well as by Tsvangirai’s seeming focus and quiet
determination, without the empty bravura of some past
performances.
DELL
(54 VIEWS)
