Harare— Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has appointed Nelson Chamisa, the youngest of his three deputies, as acting party president until his return.
Tsvangirai has been in hospital in SA since January due to colon cancer, and this move has ignited speculation about his likely successor.
Prior to the latest appointment, Chamisa was the acting leader — in the absence of Tsvangirai — of an alliance of six opposition parties, led by the MDC.
In 2017, the alliance picked Tsvangirai to be its face in general elections scheduled for sometime between July and August 2018. Chamisa will now hold both the leadership of the MDC and the alliance until Tsvangirai’s return,.
A statement issued on Wednesday by Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, said Chamisa’s appointment was "in light of the president’s absence and that of the other two vice-presidents, who are both in SA".
On Tuesday Tsvangirai was forced to turn to social media to rebuff media reports that his condition had gravely deteriorated, as questions persist over his fitness to hold office.
Tsvangirai is the most recognisable opposition leader of the last two decades in Zimbabwe, having faced off against former rival Robert Mugabe in three elections. He has led the MDC for 19 years since its founding in September 1999.
But increasingly his illness, along with the MDC’s weakness owing to splits in 2005 and in 2014, have eroded Tsvangirai’s political gravitas.
Piers Pigou, the Southern Africa director for the International Crisis Group said the MDC and its alliance were disadvantaged by Tsvangirai not being "actively engaged" on the ground, to also prepare for the elections.
Tendai Biti, the People’s Democratic Party leader and member of the alliance, said there was "concern" over Tsvangirai’s absence as the alliance "had lost about three months" in terms of election campaign activities.
"Nonetheless he gave us Chamisa and we have rolled out our programmes, and we are reconnecting and we are on a roll," said Biti, himself a former MDC leader and one-time Zimbabwe’s finance minister in a short-lived government of national unity.
"The economy is the centrepiece of this election. We know how to run the economy and we have the support of the international community, so it’s game on."
Put to him whether Tsvangirai would be able to keep up with the rigours of election campaigning Biti said: "When he comes back, we will see, as he is our leader."
But owing to Tsvangirai’s long absence, calls are growing for Tsvangirai to name a successor. By his own admission made in January, Tsvangirai said he was seized with the matter of handing over the baton of leadership to a "new pair of hands".
However, it remains unclear who among his three deputies could take over.
Only Thokozani Khuphe was re-elected at the last MDC congress to deputise Tsvangirai, which affords her some edge over Chamisa and former Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri, as she got into office by way of popular support from party members.
Both Chamisa and Mudzuri were appointed to their positions by Tsvangirai on the grounds of providing him with support to discharge of his duties.
However, political observers intimate that the appointment of Chamisa and Mudzuri — who also has had a stint as acting party president — could signal which way Tsvangirai’s preferences lie.
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