Tsvangirai Biti showdown today

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai is headed for a showdown with his secretary-general Tendai Biti today. They will no longer be together after the national executive meeting today as the party’s standing committee decided yesterday to expel Biti and those who met with him on Saturday and suspended party leader Morgan Tsvangirai and several senior executive members including vice-president Thokozani Khupe, national chairman Lovemore Moyo, organising secretary Nelson Chamisa and party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora among others. Biti and his group which included nine Members of Parliament suspended Tsvangirai because he was no longer capable of leading a democratic party. Tsvangirai’s group argues that Biti and his group had no powers to suspend senior members of the party. They are also threatening to expel all MPs that attended the meeting. The showdown will mean an open split of the party, but either way, this will be the end of Tsvangirai. Even if his faction supports him now, it is not clear whether they can endorse him to remain leader at this year’s congress as he has already served more than two terms. The split can only work in the favour of organising secretary Nelson Chamisa who some have said has presidential ambitions for 2018.

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