The Financial Gazette

Ray Ndlovu, Staff Reporter

BULAWAYO — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s latest about-turn on homosexuality, a sensitive issue in conservative Zimbabwe, could alienate the 59-year-old leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party, ahead of crunch elections expected next year.
The premier’s gaffe aired on BBC’s Newsnight programme last week, in which he supported gays and lesbians as a human  right and expressed hope that the ongoing process of drafting a new constitution would enshrine their “right”, has not gone down well with the largely conservative Zimbab-weans.
In the court of public opinion, the MDC-T leader’s utterances have once again confirmed reports that he is weak and indecisive.
The portrayal of Prime Minister Tsvangirai as weak is an ongoing tumultuous theme that has rocked the MDC-T structures after revelations by whistleblower website, WikiLeaks exposing Tsvangirai’s closest lieutenants; Roy Bennett, Tendai Biti and Nelson Chamisa as critical of the premier’s “indecisiveness”.
Tsvangirai has appeared to play second fiddle over the past decade against his archrival, President Robert Mugabe on matters of principle.
Despite waning support for his ZANU-PF party, President Mugabe has endeared himself to many Zimbabweans morally as he has stuck to his guns over homosexuality.
President Mugabe, quoted in Dinner with Mugabe, by biographer Heidi Holland said; “We compromise a lot, but with principles, no.You don’t, you don’t, you don’t, you don’t sacrifice with principles.”
President Mugabe has called homosexuals; “worse than pigs and dogs”.
Now, as political parties marshal their supporters towards an early election expected before next March, the Prime Minister’s seemingly dithering stance on homosexuality has provided cannon fodder  for criticism against the MDC-T leader.
At the weekend in Nkayi, Welshman Ncube, the leader of the splinter MDC group, dressed down the premier over his stance on homosexuality and said it showed that “Tsvangirai lacked a clear  point of view and was inconsistent”.
Ncube added, “As a party, we support what the people of Zimbabwe want and they have said that they do not want  gays”.
Patrick Chinamasa, the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said Tsvangirai’s call for gay rights was an effort to mobilise resources for his party.
“We all know what the people said on gay rights during the constitutional outreach, it’s a total no, an almost 100 percent no”, said Chinamasa.
Opinion remains divided on the ramifications of the Prime Mini-ster’s comment’s. The premier,  who through his spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyika, has maintained that the backlash was part of “diversionary” tactics now being exploited by his political rivals to gloss over real pressing issues in Zimbabwe.
Dumisani Nkomo, a political analyst said, “Through his statements, Tsvangirai has also activated a Christian constituency that is largely apathetic to voting. These (Christian voters) may not like President Mugabe, but could well vote for him as a protest against Tsvangirai’s homosexual stance. His position is confusing and contradictory to what he has earlier said and this could well undermine his political leadership in the long run”.
It is understood from a senior MDC-T official who requested anonymity, that the party was “very worried” by the latest about-turn from their leader at a  critical juncture of the country’s political timeline — where a referendum vote and elections loom.
The party official further told The Financial Gazette of the    party’s fear of coming across to the electorate as a “homosexual party”, because of its leader’s statements.
But, observers perceive that the MDC-T may opt to “brush over” this issue in the same way it dealt with the WikiLeaks debate in an effort to present a united front, while behind-the-scenes lobbying may take place.
Nkomo said: “How the MDC-T will deal with this latest controversy all depends on the structures of internal democracy within the party. People may be unhappy with Tsvangirai’s position, but the question is does anyone have the audacity to challenge him?”