THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T has effectively shut out small opposition parties, saying they were “briefcase parties” which would not add value to the proposed grand coalition ahead of the 2018 general elections.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
In a tirade, MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu took to social media telling off the parties, saying they are not needed in the coalition talks.
“You can hold onto your briefcase political party. Who cares? You will certainly not be missed in a coalition,” he tweeted.
Gutu said his party had seen it prudent to exercise due diligence before engaging other opposition players, as some of them were of “no fixed abode”.
“I’m simply targeting briefcase political parties. There are plenty of them out there. They know themselves. You don’t form a briefcase political party today and thereafter, vociferously clamour for a position in the coalition matrix, just forget it,” he said.
The MDC-T has come under attack from various opposition players after Tsvangirai appeared to cherry pick Joice Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First and Welshman Ncube’s MDC as his preferred partners in the coalition.
Former High Court judge and interim Zunde leader, Benjamin Paradza, hit back at the MDC-T last week, describing its leadership as self-centred.
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“The MDC-T seems to be terribly uncomfortable with the idea of going into a coalition with any political party that does not conform to its agenda and which they do not consider big enough.”
“In order to safeguard their own position, MDC-T is imposing preconditions that must be met to participate in their version of a grand coalition,” he wrote.
People’s Democratic Party deputy president, Kucaca Phulu, attacked the MDC-T for building an axis of exclusion.
At least 13 opposition parties, including the MDC-T, ZimPF and MDC, are toying with the idea of forming a grand coalition and fielding a single presidential candidate to challenge Zanu PF leader President Robert Mugabe in the 2018 presidential race.
