RDZ dismisses Mujuru coalition

Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe interim president, Elton Mangoma: Their burden is too heavy to carry.

Opposition parties have been pressured to form a coalition with Mujuru’s People First scheme, which comprises disgruntled former members of President Robert Mugabe’s inner circle – touted as a strategy to topple Zanu (PF) in the 2018 elections.
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is reported to be interested in the plan while Tendai Biti’s People’s Democratic Party has expressed a soft spot for the former VP.

However, in an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean  on the side-lines of RDZ’s exercise of setting up structures in Midlands, the party’s interim president, Elton Mangoma, warned against the idea of joining forces with Mujuru.

“We currently see People First Project as another Zanu (PF). They have never differed on ideology. Some of the significant leaders of the project have been at the forefront of murder, arson, beating of people, eating of livestock, corruption and plunder of opposition members in the past. Their burden is too heavy to carry. Our values and principles are too divergent and it would be imprudent for any serious opposition party to associate with them,” he said.

Path to power
The former energy minister said the idea of forming a grand coalition should primarily be based on same values and principles. “We will work with all democratic forces who share the same values and principles. We need to change from the big man politics. We need to move along a path to transformation and renewal in order to move away from the simple path to power,” he said.

Turning to the issue of electoral reforms, which has seen MDC-T resolving to boycott all polls until the exercise has been implemented, Mangoma said it was better to take part in the elections than stay away altogether. He however warned that “ZEC is already rigging the 2018 elections by not registering new voters.”

“The electoral playing field is not level. There is need for the democratic forces to agree on the reforms so that we can speak with one voice. The parties have different issues of reforms and some of the reforms are in conflict. Despite this we are taking part in elections.

“We negotiated the majority of what is in the Electoral Act. The biggest problem for us is that ZEC does not follow the law. We also have huge problems with the polling station based voters roll. We want prospective voters to be able to register freely. Up to now ZEC is not registering any voters contrary to what the law says. They are already rigging,” he said.