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Mujuru outbursts on Tsvangirai regrettable

Opinion & Analysis
Yesterday, we carried a story in which National People’s Party (NPP) leader and former Vice-President Joice Mujuru ripped into MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a move that will likely scuttle any moves to have a grand coalition to fight the status quo.

Yesterday, we carried a story in which National People’s Party (NPP) leader and former Vice-President Joice Mujuru ripped into MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a move that will likely scuttle any moves to have a grand coalition to fight the status quo.

Comment: NewsDay Editor

It is regrettable that this is happening at a time President Robert Mugabe on Friday betrayed his fear that Zanu PF factionalism could cost him the 2018 election as happened in March 2008.

There are many factors militating against Mugabe – the Zanu PF candidate for the 2018 elections – chief among them being the succession fighting within the governing party and the doddering economy.

Zimbabweans had hoped that Mujuru and Tsvangirai would put aside their haggling over power sharing to come up with a plausible opposition coalition to face Mugabe.

It would be wise for the opposition to use all they can to rally their forces and power together so that they could eject Mugabe and his Zanu PF party from power.

Sadly, however, the fact is that so far the opposition has failed to close ranks and ensure that they use their numbers against Zanu PF because of personal and often selfish interests hindering the possibility of presenting a united front at the next elections.

That Mugabe even hinted during a youth interface rally in Masvingo that his former deputy Mujuru, Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti, leader of the People’s Democratic Party, could hamper his wish to retain the top job he has occupied for the past 37 years is quite revealing.

In other words, Mugabe admitted the possibility that a united opposition could give him a good run for his money.

But with the situation prevailing within the opposition, one wonders if those working to challenge Mugabe will take heed and do whatever it takes to capitalise on the situation.

Clearly, a divided house cannot stand. This is ancient wisdom and it would be tragic if the opposition fails to capitalise on these deep-seated divisions rocking Zanu PF.

However, Mugabe understands that the opposition parties cannot stand while divided so he can afford to call them “nuisance parties”.

The difference is that despite divisions, Zanu PF has a tendency to rally together when it matters the most, and we have no doubt that during the next election, the party will bring all its forces together and go for the giant kill.

It is hoped that Mujuru’s obsession with power will not hinder the people’s project going forward. The contest will probably be nasty and Zanu PF will not give up without a fight.

Although Mujuru is a seasoned politician, she is new in opposition politics, and we urge her to trudge carefully, as she tries to find her feet in these treacherous waters.

We also want to warn her to quickly learn from other opposition leaders, who must be credited for opening the democratic space against the Zanu PF hegemony – long before she was brusquely fired from the ruling party.