In spite of all the grandstanding and rhetoric, opposition parties know that a coalition is their only realistic hope of unseating President Robert Mugabe.
Source: Coalition only way to unseat Mugabe – NewsDay Zimbabwe November 23, 2016
Comment: NewsDay Editor
No matter how they sugarcoat it, opposition leaders have individually tried and fallen short in unseating Mugabe and this alone should be the biggest motivator to the formation of a coalition movement.
It is heartening then to read that there are moves towards forming a coalition and the parties should be meeting in South Africa next week.
However, in the country’s ever predictable politics, the so-called bigger parties seem to be pulling in different directions.
MDC-T and ZimPF, which are arguably the biggest opposition parties, seem non-committal and almost disdainful of the moves to form a coalition, seeking their own processes, which are yet to bear any fruit.
Before we rush to condemn the two parties, we hope they were just playing coy and hoped to get the ever snooping Zanu PF of their scent.
Zanu PF has a reputation of scuppering such talks in the past and the opposition have every reason to be wary of the ruling party.
However, we hope this coyness ends there and the parties are committed to forging a united front in the next election.
If the opposition remain disunited and they lose the next election, then they are as culpable as Zanu PF for our continued suffering.
At this point, most weary Zimbabweans are desperate for anything other than the present regime and would welcome any coalition candidate.
Were there to be a coalition, Zanu PF is ripe for the picking, and this is the opposition’s best chance to get a guaranteed victory.
The economy and the joblessness alone should be enough to consign Zanu PF to the dustbin of history, but there is a caveat to this, the opposition need to be united.
There are many other reasons why Zanu PF cannot win an election, but a united opposition will provide the killer punch.
So, now, more than ever, Zimbabweans need opposition leaders to get off their high horses and put the country first by agreeing to coalesce.
We have said it many times and we will reiterate that no one has a monopoly of leading the opposition and we cannot rely on past near misses or a history in whatever party as a determinant for future leadership.
This is not the time for egos, being haughty and arrogant, but a time to put Zimbabwe and its interests first.
If the opposition fail to cross this hurdle, then this country is doomed.
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