Health of national leaders should not be a subject of speculation, he says after cancer diagnosis.
In Summary
- Mr Tsvangirai revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer, triggering an outpouring of sympathy from friend and foe alike.
- The announcement, hailed by analysts as unprecedented in African politics, may trigger a race to succeed Mr Tsvangirai.
- In 2005 and 2013, Mr Tsvangirai survived attempts to oust him by some fellow MDC founder members.
HARARE, Sunday
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is often praised for his bravery in taking on autocracy and has courageously navigated party splits, waning political fortunes and has even survived an assassination attempt, but this time he faces the fight of his life after he revealed he has cancer of the colon.
In a terse statement, Mr Tsvangirai, who has conspicuously been withdrawing from public life, revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer, triggering an outpouring of sympathy from friend and foe alike.
The former Prime Minister, a long-time rival of President Mugabe said he was diagnosed with the disease last month and had been undergoing treatment in South Africa.
Mr Tsvangirai sounded shaken by the turn of events when he issued the statement on June 27, but he vowed to finish what he started in 1999 at the formation of MDC – to defeat Zimbabwe’s only leader since independence.
“However, a diagnosis of cancer is the first of several medical procedures that include treatment through chemotherapy, which treatment I began this week,” he said.
“As a leader and public figure, I have taken a decision to make my condition public.
“It is my belief that the health of national leaders, including politicians, should not be a subject of national speculation and uncertainty,” he added in apparent reference to President Mugabe’s health.
But the announcement, hailed by analysts as unprecedented in African politics, may trigger a race to succeed Mr Tsvangirai, meaning he has two battles on his hands: a fight for his political life and one to wade off his debilitating condition.
Before the announcement, a shadowy State controlled media columnist believed to be President Mugabe’s spokesperson wrote a celebratory commentary predicting that the former trade unionist’s political career was coming to an end. He claimed there was already a battle for the control of MDC that had drawn in some founders of the party who left the mainstream party during the splits of 2005 and 2013.
“I hate to write it, hate it the more given my consanguineous attachment to (Mr) Tvangirai, but it must be put on record that there is a grim reading of an impending vacuum in MDC,” wrote Nathaniel Manheru, who is believed to President Mugabe’s spokesperson, George Charamba.
“Many ex-members of the original MDC sordidly anticipate that (Mr) Tsvangirai will be prostrated by the affliction, which has kept him out of political circulation. Some even eerily dream of a worse outcome.”
SURVIVED OUSTER ATTEMPTS
In 2005 and 2013, Mr Tsvangirai survived attempts to oust him by some fellow MDC founder members. The first split followed differences over participation in senatorial elections while the latest followed the party’s shocking defeat in the 2013 polls where many predicated the end of the politician’s career.
However, Mr Tsvangirai appears to rise like a phoenix each time he is faced with adversity.
In April this year he dusted himself up and led a massive demonstration against President Robert Mugabe’s rule with his supporters painting the streets of Harare red with their party colours. The march was described as the biggest against the veteran ruler in over a decade.
Buoyed by the numbers, the MDC over the last two months rolled out successful demonstrations against the government in two more cities and Mr Tsvangirai appeared to be on the ascendancy again. The local media, which had written him off as a spent force after the shock 2013 election outcome ran with screaming headlines such as ‘Tsvangirai finds lost mojo.’
“(President) Mugabe can’t solve anything, the solution is with us, the people, and we need to take this regime head-on. ‘‘It’s up to us to decide our future,” Mr Tsvangirai declared, clearly reenergised by the thousands that joined him at the march on April 15.
Political analysts say although the announcement by Mr Tsvangrai was laudable, it could halt the momentum in the push to remove President Mugabe ahead of the 2018 elections.
“What he did (revealing his health problems) is only regarded as common practice in more developed democracies,” University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred Masungure told the Daily News newspaper.
“He has exhibited that transparency goes beyond governance. “However, it is also possible that this is something that could cause some instability and anxiety in the MDC’s leadership.”
There have been reports that the young generation are no longer happy with Mr Tvangirai’s leadership as they believe he does not have the gravitas to upstage President Mugabe as shown during his stint in the inclusive government between 2009 and 2013.
