MDC-T vice-president Nelson Chamisa said his party was not merely entering into political coalitions for the sake of it, but was working towards convergence of all like-minded forces to bring change to Zimbabwe in the next year’s general elections.
by STAFF REPORTER
Chamisa said this on Thursday evening at the Sapes Trust public discussion that was looking into whether the pressing issue in the country was grand coalitions or electoral reforms before the make-or-break polls.
“We believe in not just a coalition in a narrow sense, but a broader convergence of forces and faces, a convergence of voices, a convergence of ideas, a convergence of people issues and a convergence of strategies and tactics. The coalition is the end product of a process of convergence,” Chamisa said.
He added the issue of coalitions and electoral reforms should not be seen as exclusive of each other, but rather complementary to each other to have credible elections.
“We stand for an issues-based coalition and electoral reforms are one of the issues. The other big issue for coalescing is the economy. There is need for convergence on a recovery programme. So it’s not like a chicken and egg scenario. For us, a coalition is vehicular,” Chamisa added. Other speakers at the discussion were academics Toendepi Shonhe, Philani Zamchiya and Farai Maguwu and also t People’s Democratic Party leader Tendai Biti.
The MDC-T last month signed memoranda of understanding with Joice Mujuru’s National People’s Party and Welshman Ncube’s MDC with a view to form a grand coalition.
