Zimbabwe Opposition Splinters As Leader Comes Under Attack

JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 12 -- Two of Zimbabwe's most prominent opposition figures on Thursday accused their longtime leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, of condoning violence, undermining democracy and adopting the authoritarian style of the man they once hoped he would unseat, President Robert Mugabe.

The withering critique of Tsvangirai, president of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change, came in an interview here with Welshman Ncube and Gibson Sibanda, two leaders who clashed repeatedly with Tsvangirai last year, splitting the once-potent opposition movement. The rift has made it increasingly difficult to challenge Mugabe's 25-year grip on power.

The men charged that Tsvangirai's office coordinated violent attacks in May on party staff members viewed as loyal to Ncube. In October, they said, Tsvangirai violated the party's constitution when he ignored a vote by its ruling council to participate in national senate elections, which he wanted to boycott.

Ncube, who is secretary general of the party, said that after years of opposing Mugabe, Tsvangirai began to "admire the monster" and emulate his ruthless ways.

Sibanda, who was Tsvangirai's vice president but is now acting president of the faction that opposes him, said that if Tsvangirai were ever elected president of Zimbabwe, he would become a "serious" dictator.

"This is a clash of values," Ncube said. "It is a direct clash over the soul of the party."

The two leaders also said Tsvangirai's inner circle has been infiltrated by at least one officer of Zimbabwe's feared Central Intelligence Organization, which has fomented dissension within the party.

Tsvangirai, speaking from Zimbabwe's capital of Harare, declined to respond to the allegations about his leadership style or his alleged role in attacks on party staffers. "My only answer is the people of Zimbabwe know who their leader is, and they have full confidence in their leader," he said in a phone interview, referring to himself.

The rise of the Movement for Democratic Change six years ago heralded the arrival of vigorous two-party politics in Zimbabwe after years of unchallenged autonomy for Mugabe, 81. Just a few months after forming, the opposition successfully blocked constitutional changes favored by Mugabe.

The movement narrowly lost elections in 2000 and 2002 that were marred by state-sponsored violence and judged by most outside observers to be rigged.

In March elections, also denounced by many outsiders as fixed, Mugabe's ruling party won by a wide margin. But in recent months, the opposition has crumbled into rival factions, with Tsvangirai and others battling each other rather than Mugabe.

"Any party goes through these kinds of turbulences, but it's not the end of the world," Tsvangirai said.

He acknowledged that he had not begun to organize protests against Mugabe, as he has promised in recent months, saying that would begin after the party's national congress in March. The faction led by Ncube and Sibanda plans to have its own party congress, in a separate location and at a separate time, the men said.

Ncube and Sibanda, meanwhile, said the infighting has paralyzed both factions of the opposition, making it impossible to mount any challenge to Mugabe. "All that is suffering at the moment while we are bickering," Ncube said.

Tsvangirai and others have been criticized for failing to organize protests against Mugabe's regime, both after the March elections and two months later, when police began rampaging through Zimbabwe's poorest areas, destroying homes and shops in a campaign that eventually cost 700,000 Zimbabweans their jobs or homes.

"There was just no response from the leadership," David Coltart, an opposition member of parliament who is not aligned with either Tsvangirai or his critics, said from his home in Bulawayo.

Coltart added, "If we don't manage to reconcile the parties, the MDC as we've known it for the last five years is finished. "