Mavambo Leader Renews Call for Strong Opposition Coalition
He prefers a coalition of all stakeholders including opposition leaders, business representatives, churches and civil society
HARARE — Mavambo Kusile Dawn party leader Simba Makoni on Wednesday renewed his call for a grand coalition saying the alliance should not exclude any political leader. This is in stark contrast to comments by the leader of the another Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation Welshman Ncube who has vowed not to allow Morgan Tsvangirai to lead any grand coalition to be formed by opposition parties in the run up to the 2018 cobbled to unseat President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF. Former Finance Minister Simba Makoni, who heads the MKD, told reporters in Harare that he is not tiring in his pursuit for what he calls a “grand coalition for change” that will include all opposition leaders and representatives from business, churches and civil society to mount a strong challenge in the 2018 elections against President Mugabe and his party. Ncube accuses Tsvangirai of practicing what he once described as un-constitutionalism and the use of violence against political opponents, a charge the MDC founding president denies. Makoni said the coalition must not leave out any political or social leader. Makoni said he has already met with Tsvangirai and expelled MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti, who is leading a faction calling for leadership renewal in the MDC-T. The MKD leader said he told both Tsvangirai and Biti that their fallout and public spats were not advancing the democratic agenda in the country. Biti has also called for what he calls a united democratic front to unseat President Mugabe and Zanu PF in the 2018 elections. Makoni, who once served as the country’s finance minister, said only a grand coalition for change is the answer the socio-economic problems affecting ordinary Zimbabweans. Makoni, a former Zanu PF politburo member, told the news conference that several people in Zanu PF, the opposition, the church and civil society support the idea of a grand coalition. Fear, he said, is the only thing stopping them from openly supporting the idea. Zapu leader and former Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa as well as Democratic Party president Urayayi Zembe, support the coalition idea. However, Makoni, without mentioning names, said the “big man mentality” is stalling the establishment of the coalition. Political analysts say opposition parties stand a good chance of defeating Zanu PF if they form an alliance ahead of the election.