Opposition parties and civic groups to confront Mugabe

By Tichaona Sibanda

31 July 2006

The idea of a grand coalition, bringing all opposition parties together to fight Robert Mugabe’s regime would ideally be the best thing to happen to Zimbabwe since independence, opposition Zapu leader Paul Siwela said today.

Speaking to Newsreel in the aftermath of an historic indaba that brought together leaders of the country’s opposition political parties, civic society and churches, Siwela said the idea can work if people embraced and accommodated different political views. The Presidents of the two MDC rival factions, Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara on Saturday embraced, shook hands and pledged to work together to unseat the ruling Zanu PF.

Tsvangirai and Mutambara were meeting in public for the first time and were joined by the presidents of three other opposition political parties as signs of a tentative broad alliance against Zanu PF began to show.

The unexpected development took place at a Harare convention organised by the Christian Alliance, a grouping of Christian leaders who brought together civil society, labour, students, political parties, women’s organisations and churches to debate the future of the country.

The Zimbabwe Standard reported that although Zanu PF, together with bishops who support the ruling party, had been invited, they snubbed the event. Tsvangirai who was presenting his faction’s vision for the country invited Mutambara to the podium and United People’s Party President, Daniel Shumba, Zapu Federal Party President Paul Siwela and Wurayayi Zembe of the Democratic Party joined them.

Siwela warned that for such a plan to work, people will need to exercise some caution by drafting a plan that is acceptable to all parties.