MDC-T's Thokozani Khupe riles opposition parties

TURMOIL has rocked political parties desperate for a coalition ahead of the 2018 elections following pronouncements by MDC-T deputy president Thokozani Khupe that the party does not need allies in Matabeleland.

Ms Khupe, one of MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai's three deputies, was quoted in the private media last week saying a coalition would make sense in other parts of the country than in Matabeleland.

However, in a Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) meeting on Sunday, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, touted as one of the favourites to be party vice president, said the MDC-T was no longer as popular as it used to be as political dynamics have changed in the region.

"Zimbabwe People First is very popular in Bulawayo. Another party (MDC-T) was once popular here and took seats in the 2013 elections and handed them over to Zanu-PF. The people are angry about that. If they (MDC-T) do not want to compromise in the coalition talks, no problem," Dr Sipepa Nkomo was quoted as saying in a statement released by the party.

"We (ZimPF) will win all the seats in Bulawayo. Trust us president on that one. We are agreeable to the coalition but not to be bullied and told that we do not have support. Mai Mujuru you are the last hope for Zimbabwe. That is why people, including those who never cared about politics before, are flocking to this party."

The Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC, which has been holding coalition negotiations with Mr Tsvangirai, also responded to Ms Khupe's sentiments saying her arguments were "patently false."

"There is no opposition party which has all the seats let alone all the votes in the Southern Provinces of the country. As of today Zanu-PF holds all the 13 seats in Matabeleland  South. So where is the 100 percent victory there?

"Zanu-PF holds 6 of the 10 seats in Matabeleland North. Again where is the 100 percent? Even in Bulawayo where the MDC-T won all the seats in 2013 in terms of vote counts, the MDC had 20 967 votes and Zanu-PF polled a total of 30 290 votes. Again where is the 100 percent?" said party national spokesperson Mr Kurauone Chiwayi.

"We would have thought that some basic common sense understanding will reveal to anyone involved in our politics that winning Parliamentary seats in whatever parts of the country and in whatever quantities is wholly irrelevant to the primary question of garnering the requisite number of votes for the presidential candidate which is what is required to cause a change of government."

Mr Tsvangirai last week concluded a tour of Matabeleland where he was, among other things, consulting structures on the issue of forming a coalition with other parties.

The issue has, however, seen Ms Khupe and Mr Tsvangirai giving conflicting statements around the coalition with the MDC-T leader reiterating at the weekend that negotiations would cover every part of the country.

Opposition parties have, despite Western funding, failed to dislodge Zanu-PF from power with the revolutionary party poised for another landslide in 2018.