Tsvangirai 'can't be suspended'

2005-12-09 17:19

Harare - A High Court on Friday threw out a bid by some members of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), to win legal backing for their highly divisive decision to suspend party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Judge Yunus Omerjee dismissed an application by MDC deputy secretary-general Gift Chimanikire asking the High Court to enforce a decision taken two weeks ago by a party disciplinary committee suspending Tsvangirai.

Omerjee said: "The court has considered the submissions brought before it and in the result the application is hereby dismissed", adding that he would provide the full judgment later.

Once a major political force challenging President Robert Mugabe's grip on power, the MDC had been bogged down in infighting about Tsvangirai's decision to call a boycott of the November 26 elections.

Disciplinary committee chaired by an 'ignoramus'

Tsvangirai maintained that the elections were a waste of money at a time after the country was facing severe food shortages, but his opponents within the MDC contended that voters should be given a choice at the ballot box.

Tsvangirai had dismissed the suspension as unlawful and defied the committee's ban on holding rallies, making public statements, visiting party offices or using party property.

Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) won 43 of the 50 contested seats, while the MDC picked up seven seats in the elections that were marred by poor turnout.

Tsvangirai said he would never comply with the suspension order, saying the disciplinary committee was chaired by an "ignoramus", referring to his deputy Gibson Sibanda.

In papers submitted to the High Court, Tsvangirai's lawyer Selby Hwacha argued that the suspension was void because the MDC leader had not been charged and convicted of an offence.

He said the MDC constitution "empowers the committee to suspend only where a member has been found guilty of an offence".

- AFP