Time has now come for the MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa to abandon the “toxic’ MDC label and find a new name for the party, a political analyst has said.
University of Kent law lecturer and political expert Alex Magaisa says the Thokozani Khupe MDC-T may try to usurp the MDC Alliance name and there is a very real prospect that they will be allowed to use the label in the forthcoming by-elections.
While the name MDC holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many people, is the undeniable fact that a great deal of toxicity is now attached to the brand. In his latest BSR, Magaisa writes:
It is for this reason that I argue that the MDC Alliance leaders cannot wait for the unknown future concerning the identity of the organisation.
There is a need to anticipate and acknowledge the threats and to provide countermeasures for them. If more attention had been paid to the warnings that the High Court judgment last year posed an existential threat to the MDC, some of the things that have been happening could have been foreseen and prevented.
This is why, as I see it, the search for a new distinctive, independent and cleaner identity has become an urgent matter. It is urgent because by-elections are around the corner.
… Some people might see walking away from the existing brand as a weakness; as a form of capitulation. It is not. There is another way to look at it as freedom; that the progressive forces of the MDC family are liberating themselves from the shackles of a much-loved brand which has sadly now run its course and is no longer fit for purpose.