Opinion / Columnist
Khupe is running scared of coalition
03 Feb 2017 at 13:11hrs | Views
It is likely that the negotiations on the coalition of opposition parties in Zimbabwe to corporately face Zanu PF in 2018 national elections, will go beyond the elections date as the battles of egos and tribalism continue.
The MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai wants a coalition where he will be the leader, a declaration that ZimPF used to contest before the Bikita West disaster of course. Now that ZimPF has proved itself in the recent Bikita West by-election that it does not have any support base of significance, the puzzle on who will the boss was naturally solved. ZimPF will join the coalition as the underdog, meaning its leader, Joice Mujuru will settle for the vice presidency. As is now the political tradition in Zimbabwe that every political party has a Ndebele representative in the presidium, obviously that coalition will also have a second vice president from that region.
There is Thokozani Khupe, the MDC-T vice president who hails from that region. She has a chance of retaining her post in the coalition. However, it seems Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, the leader of the MDC, have buried the hatchet for the sake of the coalition. Thus, Ncube will come in also as principal of his own party. There has to be an incentive for Ncube to join the coalition and that can be nothing other than the vice presidency. But the coalition cannot have three vice presidents, meaning somebody will have to step down. In this case, the likely casualty is the honourable madam. This is so for two major reasons. Firstly, one party cannot have two members in the presidium. MDC-T will have Tsvangirai. Secondly, the gender element will have been catered for through Mujuru. Zimbabwe, as patriarchal as it is, cannot have two women in the presidium.
Madam Khupe's thoughts have already raced ahead to these permutations. These are the possibilities that have caused Khupe to run scared of the coalition. She is emotionally against the coalition of the MDC-T with any other opposition party of significance. However, she is aware that even her leader is now supportive of the coalition and she cannot swim against the tide. Thus, she has decided to proffer a template of a coalition that she wants.
This week, Khupe said the coalition is only needed in Mashonaland provinces where the MDC-T has not been performing well. She said: "As a political party, you want a coalition because you will have realised a gap in your party and as the MDC-T, where is our gap? It is clear that our gap is in Mashonaland East, West and Central where we have consistently not done well." It's quite interesting to have a coalition that will only apply in certain parts of the country. A coalition formed on regional basis will be one its own kind. Madam Khupe has exposed her fear of the coalition, fear of Ncube in particular. She knows for sure that she will kiss good-bye to her post of ‘senior vice president' once Ncube joins the coalition.
It never rains but pours for poor Khupe. Tsvangirai recently crowded her office by appointing Elias Mudzuri and Nelson Chamisa as additional vice presidents, an appointment that clearly shows she was not managing the duties of a vice president on her own. Tsvangirai fell short of expelling her but as a modestly educated lady; she can read clearly Tsvangirai's intention. She only survived through a tribal ticket and she wants to use same to survive in the coalition.
However, madam Khupe forgets quickly. The year 2013 is not very far for her to forget that her party dismally performed in Matebeleland South and North provinces. So it's not only in Mashonaland provinces that the MDC-T has "consistently not done well," to borrow her words. She only wants to use Matebeland votes, perceived though, for power negotiations. The only sensible thing she said which deserves an accolade is her confession that her party has not been doing well in Mashonaland East, West and Central. She was not far from the truth. Her statement exonerates Zanu PF which her party has been accusing of rigging elections every time it was given a hiding. She has admitted that her party has not been doing well and that is the utmost truth.
The MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai wants a coalition where he will be the leader, a declaration that ZimPF used to contest before the Bikita West disaster of course. Now that ZimPF has proved itself in the recent Bikita West by-election that it does not have any support base of significance, the puzzle on who will the boss was naturally solved. ZimPF will join the coalition as the underdog, meaning its leader, Joice Mujuru will settle for the vice presidency. As is now the political tradition in Zimbabwe that every political party has a Ndebele representative in the presidium, obviously that coalition will also have a second vice president from that region.
There is Thokozani Khupe, the MDC-T vice president who hails from that region. She has a chance of retaining her post in the coalition. However, it seems Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, the leader of the MDC, have buried the hatchet for the sake of the coalition. Thus, Ncube will come in also as principal of his own party. There has to be an incentive for Ncube to join the coalition and that can be nothing other than the vice presidency. But the coalition cannot have three vice presidents, meaning somebody will have to step down. In this case, the likely casualty is the honourable madam. This is so for two major reasons. Firstly, one party cannot have two members in the presidium. MDC-T will have Tsvangirai. Secondly, the gender element will have been catered for through Mujuru. Zimbabwe, as patriarchal as it is, cannot have two women in the presidium.
Madam Khupe's thoughts have already raced ahead to these permutations. These are the possibilities that have caused Khupe to run scared of the coalition. She is emotionally against the coalition of the MDC-T with any other opposition party of significance. However, she is aware that even her leader is now supportive of the coalition and she cannot swim against the tide. Thus, she has decided to proffer a template of a coalition that she wants.
It never rains but pours for poor Khupe. Tsvangirai recently crowded her office by appointing Elias Mudzuri and Nelson Chamisa as additional vice presidents, an appointment that clearly shows she was not managing the duties of a vice president on her own. Tsvangirai fell short of expelling her but as a modestly educated lady; she can read clearly Tsvangirai's intention. She only survived through a tribal ticket and she wants to use same to survive in the coalition.
However, madam Khupe forgets quickly. The year 2013 is not very far for her to forget that her party dismally performed in Matebeleland South and North provinces. So it's not only in Mashonaland provinces that the MDC-T has "consistently not done well," to borrow her words. She only wants to use Matebeland votes, perceived though, for power negotiations. The only sensible thing she said which deserves an accolade is her confession that her party has not been doing well in Mashonaland East, West and Central. She was not far from the truth. Her statement exonerates Zanu PF which her party has been accusing of rigging elections every time it was given a hiding. She has admitted that her party has not been doing well and that is the utmost truth.
Source - Rufaro Mufundirwa
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