Four stories:
From IRIN...
Divisions in Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) deepened on Monday when several senatorial candidates ignored an order by party leader Morgan Tsvangirai to boycott the election of a new senate.
Tsvangirai overruled a decision by the MDC's national council on 13 October, which had voted to participate in the 26 November poll - a move condemned by his critics as undemocratic.
Tsvangirai, however, insisted that he had the support of the party's grassroots, and argued that the senate election would be an unjustifiable cost for an already crisis-hit economy.
Negotiations failed to heal the rift between the factions, and defiant MDC candidates registered in the party strongholds of Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Harare Central and parts of Mashonaland West and Manicaland.
Unconfirmed reports said at least 27 candidates had registered for the 50 senatorial seats up for grabs.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) accepted the opposition candidates, despite a letter from Tsvangirai asking the ZEC to register them as independents.
Victor Moyo, the MDC spokesperson for Bulawayo, told IRIN that the pro-senate faction was contesting the election to deny seats to the ruling ZANU-PF party.
"What we don't want is for ZANU-PF to gain political ground in Matabeleland. We have managed to keep it at bay in the past elections and there is no reason at this point in time to allow them to penetrate our region by not contesting," he commented.
Since its formation in 1999, the labour-backed MDC has lost two general elections and a presidential ballot, although several international observer teams deemed the polls unfair.
Political analysts have warned that the open defiance shown by some provinces had weakened Tsvangirai's authority, but pro-democracy activist Lovemore Madhuku ruled out the prospect of a total split in the party.
"What is needed at this point in time is for both parties to come together and get talking. At first this appeared like it was an ethnic misunderstanding, but the fact that there are some provinces outside Matabeleland that took part shows it is a clearly national issue," said Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, a local NGO.
ZANU-PF used its overwhelming majority in parliament in August to rubber stamp a constitutional amendment recreating the senate, after it was abolished in 1987 as too unwieldy.
The upper house will have 50 senators elected by ballot, while 15 non-political members will be appointed by the president from special interest groups, such as members of the council of chiefs, women and representatives from the agricultural and business sectors. They will review, and have the power to change, legislation sent to it from parliament, the lower chamber.
Divisions in Zimbabwe's main opposition party strengthened on Monday when at least 22 members registered as candidates for upcoming senate elections in defiance of a call by the party's leader to boycott the vote.
State radio confirmed that Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidates had defied leader Morgan Tsvangirai by filing papers at nomination courts in at least five of the country's 10 provinces.
In the capital Harare, three opposition candidates filed their papers just minutes before the court closed, the radio said.
This is the biggest snub so far for opposition leader Tsvangirai, who had ordered his party's supporters not to put forward candidates to contest elections for a new senate on November 26.
The radio report confirmed that 15 MDC candidates would stand in each of the party's strongholds of Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South provinces.
Another four will stand in Mashonaland West province, a hotbed of support for President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe Zanu-PF.
In the eastern province of Manicaland four Zanu-PF candidates were elected unopposed after the MDC obeyed their leader's order not to register candidates.
"Every constituency (in Matabeleland North) has fielded an MDC candidate and this is in total defiance of the party's president," state radio said in a live update from the nomination court in Bulawayo, 439km south-west of the capital.
"The candidates for Bulawayo province have been issued with their appointment forms," it added.
One of the candidates confirmed to stand for the MDC in Matabeleland North is Samuel Nkomo, the former chief executive of the banned Daily News newspaper.
There are 50 senatorial seats up for grabs.
The MDC is deeply divided on the issue of participation. Tsvangirai says the party will not contest because the current electoral laws are skewed in favour of the ruling Zanu-PF.
He reiterated that position this weekend.
But other senior party officials say that if the MDC does not take part in the elections, it will cede too much political ground to President Robert Mugabe's party.
Last week Tsvangirai wrote to the country's electoral commission, instructing them not to accept MDC candidates.
From Reuters...
Some members of Zimbabwe's main opposition on Monday defied their leader's order not to contest a controversial senate poll, weakening the opposition challenge to President Robert Mugabe.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai had ordered his party supporters not to enter the November 26 elections, saying competing would lend legitimacy to a government that routinely rigs votes.
But Tsvangirai's position has been opposed by some of his top lieutenants who argue the MDC has a national duty not to concede any political ground without a fight.
Analysts say the row -- the worst since the MDC's formation six years ago -- will test Tsvangirai's power among his ranks and considerably weaken Mugabe's only political opponents.
On Monday, electoral authorities said 26 MDC members had registered to contest the senate polls, while Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party automatically secured 19 of the 50 seats up for grabs after the opposition failed to field candidates.
Tsvangirai clashed with his top officials over the senate issue, saying Mugabe is simply using the new chamber of parliament to consolidate his 25-year grip on power.
On Monday the MDC chief's spokesman William Bango said Tsvangirai did not recognise those who filed nomination papers as party representatives.
"Mr. Tsvangirai's position is that whoever submitted papers does not have the blessing of the party because the party's candidate selection procedure was not followed and the party is not contesting these elections," he said.
The pro-election MDC faction says Tsvangirai abused his position in ordering a poll boycott because the party's national council had voted narrowly in favour of participating.
Political analyst Heneri Dzinotyiwei said the split between pro- and anti-election factions left the MDC weaker as a bloc against Mugabe's ruling party.
"I think these differences will continue up to the elections and that the MDC will only have an opportunity to really look at its position when these elections are over," Dzinotyiwei said.
Mugabe, who denies charges of election rigging, used ZANU-PF's existing two-thirds majority in parliament to push through constitutional amendments in August introducing a 66-seat senate upper house of parliament.
Fifty senators are elected through a national vote, while 10 seats are reserved for chiefs traditionally loyal to the ruling party and the remainder for presidential appointees.
The MDC accuses Mugabe, 81, of hanging onto power by rigging the last three major parliamentary and presidential elections.
The veteran Zimbabwean leader denies the charges and does not accept responsibility for a deepening economic crisis which many government critics blame on his controversial policies and what they call gross state mismanagement.
From VOA...
Some members of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have defied a call by its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, to boycott the upcoming Senate elections, and have put their names forward as candidates.
Of the MDC party, 26 members have filed their nomination papers with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Monday to take part in the November 26 senate election. That leaves 19 members of the ruling Zanu-PF party are running unopposed.
While some of Zimbabwe's 10 electoral provinces heeded the call by Mr. Tsvangirai not to participate in the poll, the southern provinces of Matebeleland North and South and Bulawayo are fielding the maximum five candidates each.
The MDC leadership has been involved in a public and bitter dispute over participation in elections for the recently re-introduced second legislative chamber. President Robert Mugabe decided to reintroduce the second chamber, in what government critics say is a move to solidify his hold on power.
The MDC leadership opposed the re-introduction of the senate in parliament, but the party's national council voted for taking part in the elections. The vote was, however, vetoed by Mr. Tsvangirai who argues the country does not need a second chamber. He accuses Mr. Mugabe of creating the senate for his friends who failed to make it into parliament.
Mr. Tsvangirai also questioned the wisdom of participating in a poll whose result, he says, is pre-determined. The opposition party rejected the results of the 2000 and 2005 parliamentary elections and the 2002 presidential elections, citing massive fraud, violence and ballot rigging.
Those in the MDC leadership in favor of participation argue that by not contesting the elections they would be surrendering political leverage to Zanu-PF.
Mr. Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, told VOA that the people who put their names forward as MDC candidates do not represent the party, because they were not chosen according to the party constitution. He said some of the candidates are standing for election outside their own provinces and were not endorsed by the people in the constituencies they are representing.
The senate will have 66 members. Traditional chiefs, widely seen as pro-Mugabe, will choose 10 representatives from their midst and the president will appoint the remaining six senators.
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