Tsvangirai survives court bid to oust him

Zimbabwe High Court Judge Yunus Omerjee on Friday dismissed an application by a 'rebel' faction of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) seeking to remove Morgan Tsvangirai as leader of the party. Omerjee did not give reasons for his decision to reject the application, made by MDC deputy secretary-general Gift Chimanikire on behalf of the faction led by secretary-general Welshman Ncube, party deputy president Gibson Sibanda, and the party's former spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi. "The court has considered the submission brought before it and ... the application is hereby dismissed," Judge Omerjee said, adding that he would provide the full judgment later. Tsvangirai's lawyer, Selby Hwacha, had argued that his suspension was void because the MDC leader had not been charged or 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". Chimanikire has yet to announce whether an appeal against Omerjee's decision will be lodged. Tsvangirai welcomed the court's decision, calling it a triumph of the people's will and vowed to intensify "the struggle for the people's freedom". The MDC leader fell out with Ncube and others after he ordered the MDC to boycott last month's senate election, saying the poll was a waste of resources in a country that should be focusing all its energies on fighting the hunger threatening three million people. Ncube's group, however, insisted that the MDC should contest the senate poll after the party's national council narrowly voted to do so. The pro-senate group also accused Tsvangirai of being dictatorial after he refused to accept the national council vote. Twenty-six 'rebel' MDC candidates contested the senate election, in which 50 seats were up for grabs, and won just seven of them. The election was marred by the lowest voter turnout in 25 years. Tsvangirai said the MDC would now focus on "democratic resistance to Robert Mugabe and his regime", but added that the "door was not yet closed" to those who had attempted to remove him as leader. He noted that an internal process to renew and regenerate party structures and the leadership was at an advanced stage and would be completed at the MDC congress next year. Last month, Tsvangirai got the party's national council to pass a vote of no confidence in Ncube and his allies when the council - the MDC's highest decision-making body outside congress - passed a resolution dissociating itself from all the leaders in Ncube's faction.