Tsvangirai and Biti reunite?

MDC-T leader and former premier, Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly reunited with his ex-secretary general and former finance minister in the Government of National Unity (GNU), Tendai Biti, behind the curtain to synergize and synchronize protest votes, in a bid to push Zanu PF out of power in the upcoming 2018 watershed presidential and parliamentary elections, Spotlight Zimbabwe reported.

Tsvangirai and Biti, who now leads the opposition outfit, People's Democratic Party (PDP) as president, fell out in April 2014, when a faction led by Biti claimed to have suspended Tsvangirai from the MDC because of a "remarkable failure of leadership", while Tsvangirai concurrently came out guns blazing, announcing the expulsion of Biti from the party altogether with 21 MPs aligned to him, being recalled from parliament the following year.

Tsvangirai had accused Biti of being manipulated by President Robert Mugabe, to destabilize the party, whose internal divisions all but worsened following defeat to Zanu PF in the 2013 elections.

According to a senior official in PDP, Biti and Tsvangirai's spokesmen, Jacob Mafume and Obert Gutu, had set the ball rolling meeting over the reunification on behalf of their leaders more than thrice already since January this year. A re-union pact is expected in early 2017, we have been told.

"Tsvangirai and Biti were always going to find each other," said the official. "I can put it on record that the two will officially announce a re-union pact no later than 2017. Right now they continue playing their political cards close to the chest, but it is now a done but confidential deal."

Spotlight Zimbabwe has also gathered that, Biti's reluctance to sign up to the recently launched coalition of smaller political parties, under the banner Coalition of Democrats or Code, was because of strategic reasons, because the political plan is to first join forces with Tsvangirai and former vice president Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF), where the lawyer's PDP party is likely to assume the role of kingmaker between MDC-T and ZimPF coalition talks, which are believed to be privately ongoing.

Parties under Code include, Simba Makoni's Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD), the Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe (RDZ) led by Elton Mangoma, the MDC-led by Welshman Ncube, Farai Mbira's Zimbabweans United for Democracy (ZUNDE) and the Democratic Assembly for Restoration and Empowerment (DARE).

Gilbert Dzikiti, who leads DARE, is interim chairman of the coalition.

As if to confirm that Code is likely to go it alone in 2018, without Tsvangirai and Mujuru on board, who did not attend the signing ceremony of the coalition, Dzikiti told the media that assertions that Code is weak without MDC-T and ZimPF were dangerous.

"The assertion that without these two we are weak is a dangerous misconception that the people of Zimbabwe are gullible and naive not to exercise rational thinking. The people of Zimbabwe are clamouring for change which strengthens institutions and not individuals," said Dzikiti.

"I want to make it clear those who are still in their perceived big boy or women politics that they have been overtaken by events and wishes of the people. We are not weak but in fact strong in our diversity. There is power in unity and the fact that Zimbabweans are talking about the coalition agreement shows that we are writing a new narrative and changing history."

Our PDP insider, also gave a hint that the country could witness two separate grand coalitions challenging Zanu PF for the presidency in two years time.

"We are headed for interesting times ahead," said the PDP politician who is close to Biti. "In 2018 we are likely to have two grand coalitions participating against Zanu PF that is why PDP, MDC-T and ZimPF have held back from joining Code. The three parties naturally will have a bigger critical voting mass, come polling day."

This publication has also been told that Makoni is likely to run again for president as the Code's presidential nominee, in a race he is likely to face-off with vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Tsvangirai should Mujuru decide to stay out of contest.

Tsvangirai and Biti played a key role in the launch of the MDC in 1999 to challenge Mugabe's grip on power. Their recent political divorce, was the second split in the MDC. In 2005, Biti's predecessor as secretary-general, Welshman Ncube, broke away to launch his own MDC faction.

Biti could neither confirm nor deny reports about his reunification with Tsvangirai, nor suggestions that Mujuru's camp is also courting him, during a late phone interview with Spotlight Zimbabwe last night.

"Ko ndozvatingataura mumapepa here? (We can't discuss about this in newspapers).PDP is committed to the unity of all Zimbabweans. We are determined to fight this dictatorship in 2018, and so we all need to fight in one corner," he said.