Mujuru says Biti is 'politically drowning'

In a savage slap down of People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Tendai Biti, former Vice President Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) has described the erstwhile top lieutenant of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as "politically drowning" and desperate to save his "sinking" ship.

This comes after Biti's PDP launched a scathing attack on Tsvangirai at the weekend, which led analysts to believe that this would make it even harder for the country's fragmented opposition to work together ahead of Zimbabwe's eagerly-anticipated 2018 national elections.

Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, ZPF spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire also accused some of the leaders of the country's smaller opposition parties of effectively working to scuttle coalition talks by attempting to "stampede the process" and roping in "dubious" characters into the ongoing negotiations.

"There is a world of difference between adopting a big brother attitude and being politically astute and refusing to be rail-roaded into activities clandestinely choreographed by Zanu PF through proxies masquerading as think tanks or civil society actors.

"We know there are individuals who are politically drowning who see a coalition as the last straw they could possibly clutch onto in order to save their sinking political careers.

"We should not be rushed by such characters and their surrogate organisations because what we want to achieve is not a rescue package for failed politicians, but a sustainable roadmap to extricate the country from the economic, social and political mess which Zanu PF has plunged Zimbabwe into," Mawarire thundered in his thinly-disguised reprimand of Biti.

Tsvangirai's spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, said while the former prime minister in the short-lived inclusive government respected the national sentiment in favour of a coalition, the MDC was nevertheless disturbed by Biti's "tendency" to insult other leaders.

"What is also undermining the talks is what Biti is doing. How do you go about saying Tsvangirai is a fool and then talk about a coalition with the same person? Indeed, how do you build trust this way?