By Eddie Cross

02 August 2006

The damage done by the split in the ranks of the MDC in October last
year is now almost fully repaired. The reasons for the decision of a
small group of leaders to leave the Movement and form a new political
grouping are still unclear. But whatever the motivation I think they now
realize that the exercise has taken them into a cul de sac.

MDC has regrouped and restructured around Morgan Tsvangirai and the
newly elected leadership is beginning to function well. There are some
very significant new players drawn from the academic world and the team
of 15 policy portfolio secretaries is starting to work together to craft
appropriate and effective new policy positions to assist in the eventual
rehabilitation and reconstruction of our society and economy.

This process has not been easy or without pain. We continue to miss
certain of the leadership that hived off into the new group and we
eventually hope they will join the 30 or so leaders who have returned to
the main wing of the MDC under its new leadership. These are now
gradually being integrated into the structures of the Party and
hopefully, this process will eventually heal the wounds in the ranks of
the opposition.

Perhaps events in the past week will accelerate that process. On
Saturday a broad coalition of Churches called the Christian Alliance,
called a national convention to debate the way forward. They invited
everyone - including the ruling Party and all other political parties.
The Trade Unions were well represented, civil society in the form of
representatives of dozens of civic groups and organisations also
attended.

At the Convention, all of the major players were invited to give their
own views of the crisis facing Zimbabwe and the way forward. Needless to
say, Zanu PF did not attend with one or two Ministers making disparaging
remarks about the event - Nathan Shamuyarira said that they did not want
to be told what to do. Another Minister remarked that "Zanu faced no
crisis and there was nothing to talk about"! That pretty much sums up
the position of the ruling Party.

Another interesting development was a peculiar press advert in the
newspaper on Friday saying that the organs representing the main
traditional Churches were not idle - they were meeting all stakeholders
and were trying to negotiate a solution. I thought the tone of this
advert was a little plaintive!

All the same, when I sat down in the large tent with several hundred
other delegates on Saturday, I was delighted to see a row of dedicated
local Christian leaders - many of whom I know well, occupying the top
table. We prayed and sang hymns and were subjected to a real "hot
gospel" sermon before we were allowed to get on with the business in
hand. One of the early presenters said that it was good to see the
Church taking a stand - but they were "too late". The Church leaders
apologized for the dilatory response to the Zimbabwe crisis and to the
abject suffering of the people under the current regime. There was great
emphasis on the need for the Nation to repent of the crimes committed
against the people under the Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina campaigns.

All five opposition Parties were represented by their main leaders. Each
was asked to speak in turn and when the opportunity came for the leader
of the break away faction of the MDC to speak he raised the issue of
opposition unity and pledged to facilitate that process. Following this
statement he was subjected to a barrage of comment from the floor and
shouts of "when"
and "now". He then gave a caveat that such unity could only be found on
the basis of adherence to the fundamental principles under which the MDC
had been formed in 1999. No problem with that.

When Morgan spoke there was a hushed silence except for heckling from
Job Sikhala who was attending as a part of the Mutambara group. He was
silenced by the crowd and Morgan then called all the leaders of the
opposition parties to the podium where he said that they were committing
themselves to unity of purpose in confronting the regime and that he
hoped that we would now see action and less talk to give this new unity
expression.

He then went on to outline the way forward and the "road map" that the
MDC was proposing and supported the 'Democracy Charter" that was being
tabled at the Convention by the Crisis Coalition. He said that when the
MDC had been formed in 1999, it had been given a mandate by the Working
Peoples Convention to fight for change through peaceful, legal,
democratic means.
The MDC had carried this banner for 6 years with many successes but it
had to be accepted now that these means could not deliver change and a
new tactics and strategies were required.

It was, Morgan stated, for this reason that the MDC was proposing to the
leadership of all democratic forces in the country, that we now move
towards democratic resistance strategies designed to secure a negotiated
settlement of the political crisis and to chart the way forward.

The Convention divided up into 6 working groups and when these came back
together in the late afternoon, the Convention adopted a series of
resolutions unanimously to give effect to the creation of a "Broad
Alliance"
, coordinated and led by the Christian Alliance, to confront the regime
and force negotiations. Organisations represented at the Convention were
given 7 days to accept the resolutions and to join the Alliance formally
- the next meeting of leadership was scheduled for the following
weekend.

This is a major step forward in the struggle for a new dispensation in
Zimbabwe. It was very good to hear a clear, principled statement from
Church leaders in support of peaceful mass action to force the Zanu PF
led regime to come to the negotiating table. In a very real way this
meeting marks the begining of a new phase in the democratic struggle to
bring about real change in the way Zimbabwe is being governed.

I am waiting to see who emerges as full participants in the new
Alliance.
The MDC National Council met on Sunday - within 24 hours of the
Christian Coalition meeting and resolved to adopt the resolutions of the
Alliance and to join in its activities immediately. We hope that this
will lead to an upsurge in the level of activity designed to get
negotiations going as soon as possible.

Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 2 August 2006.