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NewsDay

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Tsvangirai dumps ‘big brother’ mentality

Politics
MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has pledged not to “play big brother” as he joins other opposition parties in coalition talks aimed at dislodging President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in the 2018 elections.

MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has pledged not to “play big brother” as he joins other opposition parties in coalition talks aimed at dislodging President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in the 2018 elections.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

NCUBE_WELSHMAN_1

Tsvangirai told journalists in Bulawayo on Friday the MDC-T acknowledged the significance of having a coalition with other parties to challenge Zanu PF in the 2018 general elections.

“The executive of the MDC-T has given me the full mandate to negotiate with all other political parties because we realise the need for a coalition pact,” he said.

“The MDC-T will not stand in the way of any coalition discussions. We are talking to people, and we are looking for possibilities for change and if coalitions are one of the possibilities for change we will go for that, and go for it genuinely and not playing a big brother mentality.”

Analysts have emphasised on the need for a coalition among opposition parties, but talks to unite them in the past have not succeeded.

MDC leader Welshman Ncube recently, said unseating President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF would remain a tall order as long as opposition parties were not united.

“How will we remove Mugabe if we are not united? We can’t as long as we contest the elections as the green movement on our own, Tsvangirai’s red movement on its own, Biti’s orange movement on its own, and Zimbabwe People First on its own,” Ncube said.

“Who will have the last laugh in such a situation? Obviously it’s Mugabe who will say look at my fools taking votes from each other.”

Tsvangirai also indicated the recent street protest in Harare proved critics wrong that the MDC-T was “dead,” adding Bulawayo should brace for a similar event before the party rolls other protest marches countrywide.

“What is the significance of these mass demonstrations? The significance is that there was tendency to dismiss and to write off the people’s ability to organise themselves,” Tsvangirai said.

“In fact, there was general tendency to question the capacity of the MDC-T to respond to the crisis that we face. We proved sceptics wrong, and we are not going to go away until a solution is found. The next demonstration will be in Bulawayo.”