Zimbabwe: MDC splits over about-turn on Zim senate elections

Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has split. While Morgan Tsvangirai, its leader, decisively won the battle to boycott senate elections, he lost most of his most senior colleagues in the process. Tsvangirai called yesterday's meeting of the MDC's national council and it voted overwhelmingly against participation in the upcoming national elections to establish a senate, reversing a narrow decision on October 12 to field candidates for the poll. Tsvangirai went against the party's constitution and ignored that decision. But with new-found energy, he embarked on a hectic campaign around the country to change opinion.