News / National
Chamisa, Mwonzora bury hatchet
01 Apr 2022 at 09:26hrs | Views
OPPOSITION Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa and his rival MDC Alliance leader Douglas Mwonzora yesterday buried the hatchet and pledged to form a coalition ahead of the 2023 elections, NewsDay learnt last night.
Although details were still sketchy at the time of going to print, reliable sources said Mwonzora and Chamisa met at a hotel in Harare and agreed to forge an alliance despite their well-documented differences centred around ownership of the party name and its assets.
The meeting comes after Mwonzora's MDC Alliance failed to win a single seat in by-elections held last Saturday.
Chamisa's CCC party won 19 of the 28 contested parliamentary seats.
"The magnitude of defeat on a party that was once a force to reckon with and the embarrassment brought on the late Morgan Tsvangirai's legacy pushed Mwonzora to his senses," a source who attended the meeting said.
Mwonzora and Chamisa confirmed the meeting, but were coy on details of the agreement.
"As I said earlier on Monday, there is no bad blood between me and Chamisa. We are both opposition leaders fighting for the same common goal which is to better the lives of Zimbabweans. I cannot say anymore, but yes, I reached out to Chamisa," Mwonzora said.
Chamisa said: "I can confirm that I talked to Mwonzora this week. In due time, we will inform our supporters."
Chamisa was forced to launch CCC barely two months ago after Mwonzora claimed the MDC Alliance name and symbols. This was despite the fact that Chamisa contested in the 2018 presidential elections as an MDC Alliance candidate.
Although details were still sketchy at the time of going to print, reliable sources said Mwonzora and Chamisa met at a hotel in Harare and agreed to forge an alliance despite their well-documented differences centred around ownership of the party name and its assets.
The meeting comes after Mwonzora's MDC Alliance failed to win a single seat in by-elections held last Saturday.
Chamisa's CCC party won 19 of the 28 contested parliamentary seats.
"The magnitude of defeat on a party that was once a force to reckon with and the embarrassment brought on the late Morgan Tsvangirai's legacy pushed Mwonzora to his senses," a source who attended the meeting said.
Mwonzora and Chamisa confirmed the meeting, but were coy on details of the agreement.
"As I said earlier on Monday, there is no bad blood between me and Chamisa. We are both opposition leaders fighting for the same common goal which is to better the lives of Zimbabweans. I cannot say anymore, but yes, I reached out to Chamisa," Mwonzora said.
Chamisa said: "I can confirm that I talked to Mwonzora this week. In due time, we will inform our supporters."
Chamisa was forced to launch CCC barely two months ago after Mwonzora claimed the MDC Alliance name and symbols. This was despite the fact that Chamisa contested in the 2018 presidential elections as an MDC Alliance candidate.
Source - Newsday Zimbabwe
