It’s not an easy proposition. There are more than a dozen political parties to consider, as well as various social movements and civil society organisations, all with competing interests and agendas.
As the largest and most established opposition group, Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T has taken the lead in building this coalition, starting with a united front on electoral reform under the banner of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA). This is a clever issue to tackle first: all opposition parties are likely to benefit from free and fair elections, and the joint platform provides a relatively safe environment in which to form the relationships and build the trust that will be crucial ingredients for a future coalition.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. When 13 political parties met in Cape Town earlier this month to thrash out the details, the MDC-T was not among them. A senior MDC-T official told ISS Today that the party was unhappy that it hadn’t been consulted about the invitation list. He also made it clear that the MDC-T believed that its long years in opposition had earned it the right to initiate coalition talks, and determine the agenda.
Also absent was former vice president Joyce Mujuru, who formed the Zimbabwe People’s First Party (ZPF) last year after being forced out of ZANU-PF. Although new and untested, ZPF is thought to appeal to disgruntled ZANU-PF supporters in a way that the MDC-T never can, and as such will play a crucial role in the upcoming election.
Privately, MDC-T and ZPF have already begun their own coalition talks, although progress is slow. One major issue is the identity of the proposed coalition’s presidential candidate, with both party principles – Tsvangirai and Mujuru – unwilling to concede the top spot. Tsvangirai is also yet to be convinced of Mujuru’s bona fides, given her long history in ZANU-PF.
‘There is a tussle over who should lead the coalition; [MDC-T leader] Morgan Tsvangirai believes he deserves to be the leader,’ political analyst Ibbo Mandaza told the Zimbabwe Standard. ‘His deputies believe that in an event that he does not want to, it should be someone from their side. Mujuru too believes she can and deserves it. So in the process, before we talk about other mechanisms and below structures the people are fighting over the top leadership.’
Mugabe has built his 36-year rule on pitting his enemies against each other. It has been a remarkably successful strategy, and endures even as the president’s political acumen wanes along with his physical health. For his opponents, however, the path to success lies in a different direction. To successfully take on the ZANU-PF machine, they need to embrace unity rather than division – an altogether more difficult value to implement.
By Simon Allison. This article first appeared in ISS Today
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