Biti’s pedigree under scrutiny

Politics
WHEN he broke ranks with the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai in 2013 on allegations of dictatorship and leadership crisis, analysts said it was obvious that Tendai Biti wanted to be president of a political party.

WHEN he broke ranks with the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai in 2013 on allegations of dictatorship and leadership crisis, analysts said it was obvious that Tendai Biti wanted to be president of a political party.

Xolisani Ncube

Today, he is at the verge of leading his MDC Renewal party, or the soon to be named People’s Democratic Party (PDP) — a movement he together with Elton Mangoma established before they also broke ranks.

However, Biti’s “crown” has been delayed for another week after police blocked their inaugural congress that could have ushered him to party presidency and opposition leader like his former boss, Tsvangirai.

After fighting tooth and nail together with his now political rival, Tsvangirai under a united MDC from 1999 to 2013, Biti will now stand alone to prove his political clout and popularity.

Under Tsvangirai’s party, Biti established himself as one of the country’s best Finance ministers and now he will have to show that his accomplishments were not because of his association with the MDC-T, but were driven by his own political astuteness.

Analysts said if Biti was not careful, he would become what they called “just another opposition leader of the many minority parties”, and end up failing to outclass his former boss Tsvangirai”.

Alexander Rusero said it was difficult to assess how powerful Biti was because he gained fame under the wings of Tsvangirai.

“You can’t judge Biti based on his contributions under Tsvangirai because then, he was working under the clout of someone.

We have to wait for his party to show its ability and character, and that is when we will be able to show how they perform,” Rusero said.

“So far, if truth is to be told, it is only Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe who have proved that they have a consistent support base to talk about.

Biti is just like any other MDCT politician. Only when he is measured in an election can we start talking about his political stamina.”

During his political career in MDC-T, Biti won the Harare East parliamentary elections and represented the party with success.

But, party acting chairman, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo said it would not be individuals who would take the MDC Renewal or the People Democratic Party to the next level. He said their ideologies and party ethos would make their party stand.

“We are an idea-driven party that seeks to do things differently. It is not who is there to lead, but the ideas that we are offering to the people of Zimbabwe nand solutions coupled with the desire to do things differently nthat will make the party stand.This party is going to focus on issues and not personalities,”Nkomo said.

“To us, these slogans that Mugabe must go and so on and so forth no longer hold water. We have ideas which we believe if and when implemented, will make this country a better place to live in,” he said.

Ernest Mudzengi said Biti’s abilities and popularity would be measurable during an election when he fought for the presidency against Tsvangirai and Mugabe.

“MDC leader Welshman Ncube tried to stand alone but failed to outdo the popularity of Tsvangirai. Biti has to show political maturity and offer better solutions to the current situation for him to be relevant, or else he will become just like many opposition leaders with his party playing second fiddle to MDC-T and Zanu PF,” he said.