Source: Gumbo warns of Zanu PF infiltration – DailyNews Live
Mugove Tafirenyika 12 April 2017
HARARE – Opposition leaders intending to form a grand coalition against
President Robert must be cautious of being infiltrated by Zanu PF,
Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) interim co-leader Rugare Gumbo has warned.
Under pressure from long-suffering Zimbabweans, opposition parties –
including Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and Joice Mujuru’s newly-formed National
People’s Party (NPP) – are currently in talks to come up with a united
front in the hope of finally bringing to an end Mugabe’s 37-year rule in
next year’s crunch elections.
However, haggling, jostling and inflated egos have impeded progress
towards the pact amid fears that time is running out, with some opposition
leaders endorsing Tsvangirai as the alliance’s leader.
But Gumbo told the Daily News yesterday that while the coalition needed to
be concluded in time to allow its candidate ample time to campaign,
rushing the process could backfire in spectacular fashion.
“While we appreciate the people’s impatience, it is our duty as leaders to
ensure that the process is not dictated by events outside, that we should
be in total control of the process and controlling events to avoid
mistakes that could be fatal because some of us are aware of what the
animal we are dealing with (Zanu PF) is capable of doing,” the former Zanu
PF spokesperson said.
“We must, as leaders, try to as much as we can to manage the emotions our
people have on this coalition issue. We know they want it like yesterday
but we can’t just say because people want it today, so let us have it now.
We risk being infiltrated if we are that reckless.
We must be able to control events and not be led by them. That is why we
are in leadership.”
Gumbo’s sentiments dovetail with those expressed by Tsvangirai in an
exclusive interview with the Daily News on Monday when he said while “the
commitment towards forming a grand coalition is there . . . but we must
exercise due diligence in regard to our partners”.
“Imagine at the end, just before the elections, you have people who will
say `I was not part of the talks’ . . . so due diligence is very
important,” he said.
Gumbo said his party has not yet deliberated on who should lead the
coalition owing to internal problems which saw ZPF part ways with Mujuru,
who went on to form the NPP.
“It is premature for us to discuss coalition leadership as we are trying
to make progress towards our convention to elect substantive leadership
after the split that destabilised our structures.
“We need to be more calculative to avoid the mistake we made with Mujuru,
so we need to do some strategic planning and without that it is difficult
to move ahead. We are coming through though,” Gumbo said.
However, Gumbo’s ZPF co-leader Didymus Mutasa has since expressed his
personal opinion that he wants Tsvangirai to be the coalition leader.
COMMENTS