Opposition Parties Want Democrats in Grand Coalition
Opposition parties generally agree that splits are a result of lack of internal democracy in movements attempting to unseat President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party
WASHINGTON DC — Political parties pushing for a grand coalition to contest the 2018 elections say the movement should be a composition of genuine democrats for it to succeed. This came out of a public meeting convened by Bulawayo Agenda on Thursday to discuss the infighting in different parties. Representatives from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Welshman Ncube, Zapu and the MDC-T renewal team all agreed that the splits that have ravaged, especially the MDC, are a result of a lack of internal democracy. But a representative of MDC-T’s Abednico Bhebhe dismissed the assertion saying his boss Morgan Tsvangirai remains the face of the oppostion. Bulawayo Agenda, through its subsidiary, Gwanda Agenda will host a similar meeting in Gwanda on Saturday. Internal rifts in the MDC-T have resulted in two factions, one led by Tsvangirai and another said to be led by Tendai Biti of the Democratic Renewal Campaign team seeking the ouster of Tsvangirai as leader of the party. They claim that Tsvangirai is running the party with an iron-fist and has failed to follow the core democratic principles of the MDC-T. At the same time, the reformists believe that Tsvangirai has failed to unseat President Robert Mugabe and his party. Mr. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for more than 34 years.