Opposition coalition a joke and weak-- Temba Mliswa

Outspoken independent Norton member of parliament Temba Mliswa has dismissed chances of opposition political parties defeating Zanu PF.

Recently, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with NPP leader and former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and MDC leader, Welshman Ncube, the first building blocks towards the setting up of an opposition coalition ahead of the 2018 elections

However, the former Zanu PF provincial chairperson, Mliswa said the planned tag team is a clear lack of tact on Tsvangirai's part adding that the planned coalition was a joke.

"For me, I think the opposition has lost strategy. The biggest opposition remains in Zanu PF and that is the infighting, the biggest opposition is internal. There is no coalition or alliance, which will ever work before elections," he said as quoted by NewsDay.

"I always get surprised, for example, Tendai Biti's party is stronger than Mujuru's in terms of structures, but I am equally more powerful in terms of opposition parties.

" I am in Parliament and they are not, so why are you talking to people who are not in Parliament. This is a joke."

"I am more powerful than them if you calculate my votes in Hurungwe West and Norton. These political parties do not even have a single vote. Power is shown inside Parliament and that is when you control things."

Mliswa has often been accused of still Zanu PF for his constant attacks on the opposition and his sustained praise for Zanu PF.

He said Tsvangirai was better off going into 2018 harmonised elections by himself and contesting the first round and then, if need be, seek coalition partners for the run off.

Mliswa said there were a number of MDC-T loyalists, who are not comfortable working with Mujuru because of her Zanu PF links.

He said Zanu PF had a bad record, particularly on electoral fraud and election related violence, hence, victims of such will see no reason voting for the coalition.

"The aspect of violence is so serious and don't play with people's emotions on that. There are people who died and some will say you are bringing a person formerly with Zanu PF, where people were killed. Let the Zanu PF people go on their own and let the MDC people go on their own," he said.