Simba Makoni will not be part of grand coalition

Opposition Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) leader, Simba Makoni says he will not join the Tendai Biti proposed coalition of opposition forces but would be part of his envisaged  "grand coalition" of all political actors and non-politicians.

The former Finance Minister accused both President Robert Mugabe and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai of presiding over what he termed big man politics.

Makoni said he has not yet been approached by Biti's renewal group on the formation of a coalition, but said he will not be part of an arrangement that seeks to exclude certain individuals from it.

Makoni said he envisaged a grand coalition that would bring together Zimbabweans from politics, churches and business in a bid to remedy the country's deteriorating political, social and economic crisis.

He said he was not convinced the MDC-T differences could not be bridged, adding that local politicians must learn to abandon their narrow political ambitions and focus on nation building.