Morgan Tsvangirai

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MDC election poster, 2002 Presidential election.

Morgan Tsvangirai, (IPA pronunciation: ['mɔ(r)gən ˌtʃæŋgə'raι]; born March 10, 1952) is a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist, and the leader and founder of the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition party in Zimbabwe.

1 Early life
2 Trade Union politics
3 National politics
4 Treason cases
5 See also

[edit] Early life

Tsvangirai was born in the Gutu area in central Zimbabwe, the eldest of nine children and the son of a carpenter and bricklayer. After leaving school early, in 1974 he started working for the Trojan Nickel Mine in Mashonaland Central. He spent ten years at the mine, rising from plant operator to general foreman.

[edit] Trade Union politics

Tsvangirai became branch chairman of the Associated Mine Workers Union and was later elected into the executive of the National Mine Workers Union, and in 1988 he became the Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the umbrella trade union organization in the country.

In 1989 he was imprisoned for six weeks on charges of being a South African spy. There have been three attempts to assassinate him, including an attempt in 1997 where unknown assailants burst into his office and tried to throw him out of a tenth-story window.

In 1997, he organized ZCTU strikes. And he was a former freedom figther however he was very young but determined such that if he and the president were of the same age he could be our president.

[edit] National politics

In 1999, he founded and organized the Movement for Democratic Change, an opposition party opposed to Mugabe's rule.

In the 2000 election, the MDC won 57 out of 120 seats. Tsvangirai himself was not elected. Turning down the opportunity of a seat in one of the cities, where the MDC's support is strongest, the MDC leader chose instead to stand in his home district of Buhera North. Like most rural constituencies, it was won by Zanu-PF, although Tsvangirai cut the majority to 2,534.

Tsvangirai lost the March 2002 presidential election to Robert Mugabe of the ruling Zanu-PF party. The election provoked widespread allegations of vote rigging by Mugabe, through the use of violence, media bias, and manipulation of the voter's roll leading to abnormally high pro-Mugabe turnout in some areas. Since the 2002 presidential elections the MDC has been increasingly losing support. In the 2005 paliamentary elections MDC captured 41 seats against ZANU PF's 78 seats.Some analysts blame Tsvangirai's continued call for sanctions against Zimbabweans as the main reason for the MDC's lose of support.

Tsvangirai is Shona, part of Zimbabwe's ethnic majority. He does not smoke or drink. He is married and is the father to six children.

[edit] Treason cases

Tsvangirai was arrested after the 2000 elections and charged with treason; this charge was later dismissed.

In 2004, Tsvangirai was acquitted of treason for an alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe in the run-up to the 2002 presidential elections. George Bizos, a South African human rights lawyer who was part of the team that defended Nelson Mandela, headed Tsvangirai's defence team.