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(PDP) president Biti ‘dumps’ his party for Tsvangirai’s MDC Alliance amid calls for PDP and MDC-T Bulawayo executives to boycott MDC Alliance star rally at White City stadium.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Tendai Biti has ‘dumped’ his party for Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC Alliance amid calls for the PDP and MDC-T Bulawayo executives to boycott the Alliance tomorrow’s star rally at the White City stadium.
Bulawayo24 is told that Biti announced his decision, to cross the floor durig a heated executive meeting held in Bulawayo last weekend and was later to tell it to Zimbabwe, in a radio interview that he ‘regrets’ parting with Tsvangirai but is happy that they are making amends as they have been “missing each other”.
“In the meeting, the rest of the executive were against the idea of eloping with Tsvangirai as PDP because we fear being swallowed the Zapu style. He didn’t even consult us on the move. We felt that we needed to bargain for more seats than the paltry 14 seats allocated to us in the Alliance proposal.
“We are having a so called ‘Alliance’ that has MDC as the name and Tsvangirai as the president. There was no consensus, the idea and principles are being forced down on our throats,’ said a PDP member who declined to be named.
The executives accuse Tsvangirai of ‘divisively hoarding’ some seats for his party and yet given to ‘little known’ and unpopular parties such as Transform Zimbabwe which have a higher number of seats than PDP.
In the seats proposal, MDC-T has 114 seats, MDC (Welshman Ncube) 32seats, ZimPF 30seats, MCD 1seats, PDP 14 seats and TZ 19seats.
After the meeting last weekend and in a party Whatsapp platform, Biti is said to have announced that he is crossing over to the alliance because it is the ‘best decision’ for him and dared the party congress to fire him.
“The idea to have an Alliance with Tsvangirai is the best for me. If I am wrong let my party vote me out, come next congress,” said Biti.
He was later, in a local radio interview, to announce that he is warming-up Tsvangirai.
“I have absolutely no doubt that Morgan Tsvangirai and I have found each other and I think in a way we were missing each other. I am (now) able to sit at his house, drive to his house without appointment as I used to do when I was his secretary general,” he said in the radio interview.
Biti is alleged to have ‘hand-picked’ his friends in PDP who are not even in the executive, with whom he went for meetings with Tsvangirai. The deputy president Kucaca Phulu, national chairperson Lucia Mativenga and secretary general Gorden Moyo were in the dark about meeting Tsvangirai and joining the Aliance. He has also, not included anyone from Matabeleland wherefrom the party has its base.
“Biti is making a selfish decision. Am sure he has been offered some position by Tsvangirai, the reason why he has gone against all the executive,” said the executive.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo24 is in possession of a letter written by a Bulawayo district chairperson stating that the province’s executives have called on their vice president and councilors not to attend the ‘fraudulent MDC Alliance’ rally where Biti is expected to be one of the key speakers.
Part of the document – pages not in order
‘”…should they attend the Alliance rally on Saturday they will have removed themselves from the structures of Bulawayo Central District,” read part of the letter.
The party is contemplating on calling an extra-ordinary meeting to ponder its next move. Source – Byo24News