Giant leap towards grand coalition

A cluster of political parties constituting the bulwark of Zimbabwe's opposition parties have made a giant leap towards the formation of a grand coalition to confront the ruling Zanu PF party at next polls in 2018.

MKD leader Simba Makoni is at the forefront of the coalition talks, whose major achievement to date has been to narrow the opposition parties' areas of conflict while working closely where they have common interests.

The cluster is presently made up of four opposition parties namely MKD, MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai; ZAPU headed by Dumiso Dabengwa, and Lovemore Madhuku's National Constitutional Assembly.

The quartet has recently been issuing joint statements on national occasions such as the Independence Day and the Workers Day, in what marked the first step towards the coalition agenda.

Their intention is to rope in the civic society, the church and other influential leaders to rally behind them.

Makoni confirmed the latest developments saying the parties were cooperating on specific issues that would build familiarity, confidence and mutual trust as a basis for a grand coalition.