Coalition of opposition parties is a pipe-dream

Opposition political parties are still an amazing lot. Their dreams of a grand coalition which they think would dislodge the revolutionary party ZANU PF from power, come 2018 is still being talked about with no clear direction of where it would start and end. Some so called activists within some opposition political parties have already come up with their preferred candidates whom they think could lead the so called grand coalition.

The recently held MDC-T`s 17th Anniversary in Bulawayo showed a little bit of Morgan Tsvangirai being talked about as the preferred candidate who might lead the coalition. Such views came from the former ZANU PF Mashonaland West Provincial Chairman Temba Mliswa who said that Tsvangirai should lead the coalition. Other speakers who attended that 17th Anniversary of the MDC-T also echoed the same sentiments. Others said that Tsvangirai has been in the opposition field for some time hence he is the face of the opposition politics in the country.

Such statements from people canvassing for Tsvangirai to lead the coalition when there should be negotiations for such a coalition shows that the opposition groups are bound to fail in their endeavours. The coming in of the former ZANU PF Vice President Dr Joyce Mujuru into the opposition politics was received by fan and pomp fare by those who thought she would dislodge ZANU PF from power. Now that her position would be that of a Vice President which she was for two decades means she has lost the plot. For Mujuru to be relegated to the second in command in the coalition would spell doom to her as the formation of ZimPF would have failed to its ambitious project. Forming a political party only to be amalgamated or consumed by another party would point to shortage of reasoning to such people who would have done that.

Actually such an arrangement where Tsvangirai would lead the coalition with Mujuru being her Vice President is bound to create problems for the coalition because the really tried and tested Vice President of Tsvangirai for nearly a decade, Thokozani Khupe may not take that lightly. Like Tsvangirai being said to be the face of the opposition, she has also been the same as being second in command to Tsvangirai hence she needs to be recognised as such. Thokozani Khupe have been in thick of things in the opposition politics and for someone to come and relegate her to non-managerial post sounds ridicule to her conscience. Her position of being in the opposition and second in command to Tsvangirai means that if Tsvangirai is to be elevated to the Presidency of the country she needs to be deputy to him as well. So the issue of Dr Mujuru overriding that would cause friction if not still-birth of that grand coalition.

While Temba Mliswa and few others are gunning for the grand coalition to be led by the MDC-T leadership on the other hand Tendai Biti`s People`s Democratic Party (PDP) has already endorsed the Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) leader Dr Joyce Mujuru to lead the envisaged grand coalition. Giving a solidarity speech, in the ZimPF rally held in Binga some few weeks ago the PDP vice-president Samuel Sipepa-Nkomo said the PDP, is going to support the presidential candidature of Mai Mujuru and noone else, and showing that there are already some differences of opinion among some opposition political parties on who to lead that grand coalition.

Such differences in views between the MDC-T sympathisers and PDP on who should be the leader of the grand coalition if ever it materialises shows that the opposition political parties are still away from coming up with that coalition. As pointed out by Macdonald Lewanika some few months ago in his paper titled. "Grand Coalition Hard to sell", in which he said that the coalition faces a tough sell because of difference in opinion from some leaders of those opposition political parties, such a view could be true. Some opposition political parties are power hungry and they cannot imagine a situation where they would be in opposition politics just to be led by other opposition political parties. Being in opposition front some if not all opposition leaders want to be at the helm of the country hence being in opposition politics to be led by other opposition political parties points to nothing.

Actually any grand coalition of some opposition political parties could face some problems as there could be some higher likelihood of squabbling for candidature amongst the various political parties as any party would prefer their own leader to lead it. Temba Mliswa`s view and that of Sipepa Moyo cannot be taken lightly. Already there is a sign that some disagreements could emerge in the process of choosing the grand coalition leader. Some would argue that the MDC-T has been in the field for nearly two decades hence it needs to remain the face of the opposition such that the grand coalition should be formed and cemented around it.

On the other hand those in support of Dr Joyce Mujuru to head the grand coalition would say that the MDC-T failed to wrestle power from the ruling party ZANU PF for nearly two decades hence the ZimPF leader should be given the opportunity to lead. Such disagreements could also lead others to think that giving the leadership to Dr Mujuru would be similar to retaining ZANU PF leadership as the two, ZANU PF and ZimPF are differentiated by a thin line in their ideology and history.

So such an argument by the perceived MDC-T supporters and other political parties could hold water because whatever the ZimPF party could be saying against ZANU PF would only make people to equate it with a situation where a right ear could be blaming the left ear when both have failed to hear a sound of a coming car until an accidents happens. So the scenario is that the ZimPF have been in ZANU PF for more than three decades failing to say anything bad against the party only to say it now after their dismissal from this revolutionary party. The ZimPF`s historical background in ZANU PF could work against such plans for this party to lead the grand coalition.

In politics anything is possible. Mliswa could be right that the grand coalition should be centred around the MDC-T leadership since they are the once who have been in opposition for a long time. Giving the ZimPF leadership of the grand coalition could be rewarding ZANU PF indirectly. Who knows may be the dismissal of Dr Mujuru and other senior members from ZANU PF was stage-managed to hoodwink the opposition political parties into welcoming Dr Mujuru as their own. So a grand coalition led by the perceived new kid in the political playing ground could come to haunt the well-established opposition political parties in the country.

Even if the grand coalition is to succeed and then form a new government but there could be some higher chances of political parties squabbling over ministerial and other high ranking government positions. So with some of the members of the MDC-T and the ZimPF having tasted cabinet posts before, they would be expecting to be given preferences over others thereby creating total disagreements in the opposition grand coalition. On the other hand if opposition coalition is to win in the 2018 elections, there would be possibility of squabbling on the sharing of government funds allocated to political parties resulting in the split of that coalition.

A critical analysis of the existing political landscape in the country shows that a grand coalition would remain a tall order as long as the opposition political parties are not united.