IT has been a year since Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube (WN) elbowed out Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara as president of the splinter Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in a bloodless coup at the party’s January congress in Harare last year.

Since then, Ncube has etched himself as a ‘third way’ in Zimbabwe’s political scene, and wade into a political race that for over a decade has pitted President Robert Mugabe against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

In the following interview with reporter Ray Ndlovu, Ncube lays bare his expectations in the New Year, and speaks of his relationship with President Mugabe and Tsvangirai:

Welshman Ncube (WN): This is a critical year for us as Zimbabweans. It is going to be an election year. It doesn’t matter if the election is going to be held in March or in September; the difference will only be a matter of few months. What is certain is that 2012 is going to determine the trajectory and history of this country. Whether the country will turn or not is in itself another question. We have gone ahead with a very difficult transition in the past three years, but that alone has not been enough. The country needs a new government that would be able to build and consolidate on the marginal successes of this present government.

RN: Your party has toyed with the idea of a possible coalition with Tsvangirai's MDC-T in the next election in Zimbabwe. However, such a move could be regarded with cynicism, given your role in the splintering of the then united  MDC in the first place. Your comment?

WN: We have never suggested a coalition with anyone at all for the next election. Our National Executive Council devoted the greater part of its time in 2006-2007 to talk of a possible coalition for the March 2008 Presidential election. The MDC-T rejected our overtures, And told us they were not interested in any coalition. Fairly speaking now, given that the MDC-T rejected us in 2008, how can we be pre-occupying ourselves with the hope of having a coalition with them again in the next election? There is no change of heart from my party.

WN: We work in the inclusive government together very well. I must say that the only differences are at an ideological level, but that hasn’t stopped us from working together. There is no personal animosity, hatred or ill-feeling towards each other. We simply disagree politically, but I guess it is what is expected from us politicians. The MDC-T says one thing, but they behave in exactly the opposite manner; they have become masters of deception and speak with forked tongues. As for my party, we are who we are and are simply pushing forward an agenda for the betterment of Zimbabweans.

RN: There is a widespread perception in Zimbabwe, and within political circles, that President Mugabe and the premier have continuously sidelined you from the unity government because of your ethnicity. Is this a reality?

WN: What is clear between President Mugabe and Tsvangirai is that they are in agreement to make sure that I will never assume the post of Deputy Prime Minister as is allowed by the due process of law. These are one of the few rare instances that President Mugabe and Tsvangirai are in agreement over something. Blocking my rise to the post of deputy premiership is something they can easily do as President Mugabe is the one that swears in people, and he could refuse to swear me in, as we saw was the case with Roy Bennet until the MDC-T gave up that fight and gave the post to someone else.

The reasons and motivations as to why I am not being allowed to become the Deputy-Prime Minitser are known only to them. I have not bought into the ethnicity position waved in political circles as the main reason. I however, believe that the two men fear that the hegemonic contestation that has always involved just the two of them would be thoroughly threatened if I rise in the ranks of the inclusive government.

RN: You have held rallies in Mashonaland and Manicaland provinces, which are all perceived to be bastions of support for ZANU-PF and the MDC-T. During your rallies have you got a sense of being viewed as a tribal politician from Matabeleland?

WN: I have held successful rallies in the areas you mentioned and I have never had a sense that my ethnicity matters to the people that have attended our election campaigns. The people who raise an ethnic card are the elites who are the real beneficiaries of that scheme and not ordinary Zimbabweans.

RN: In the WikiLeaks cables released last year, former United States envoy to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell described you as a “genius”. Does such high-level support either affect or help your position in a government that is partly avowedly anti-Western?

WN: Dell didn’t only say that about me, he said I was a genius, who is highly divisive and should be taken off the stage. I don’t know what taken off the stage means, but it could be American diction to end my political ambitions or to physically harm me. I don’t really know. What I am certain of though, is that my party is keen to engage regional and continental parties and groups and have their support for our programmes. It is to fellow African parties that we lean most for support and recognition.

RN: How do you plan on engaging regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to help resolve Zimbabwe's political crisis? One may speculate that the strong relationship you enjoy with South Africa President Jacob Zuma, given that you are in-laws, may see an increase in your influence in the regional bloc.

WN: The family ties with President Zuma are not relevant when it comes to the political issues at play in Zimbabwe. My party will engage with SADC in an effort to make it aware of the hurdles that currently poison the country from holding free and fair elections. SADC has said it wants Zimbabwe’s next election to have an uncontested result, and that is the position we are also pushing for.

WN: Zimbabwe is absolutely not ready to hold any election at the moment. Many of the provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) have not been fulfilled. The process itself of completing an election roadmap has been littered with squabbles and fights. Violence is still pervasive; the police attitude towards opposition supporters is still reminiscent of the 2008 scenario. The political players must engage in a strong willed way to fully implement the GPA.

RN: How do you intend on dealing with Mutambara clinging onto the post of Deputy Prime Minister, and the renegade legislators that have refused to recognise your leadership?

WN: Mutambara is irrelevant to Zimbabwe’s politics and he can hold onto the position for as long as he likes. We will not be drawn into tiring court battles over that and lose focus on gaining support from the grassroots. The Members of Parliament are just bidding time, they also know that supporting Mutambara is suicidal and are, for now, hiding behind him saying they support him. In fact, they are canvassing support for the MDC-T.

It is an expected ploy from them to use Mutambara as a shield given that the country’s Constitution doesn’t allow legislators to cross-floors. Within the party, there is no disagreement over who their leader is, it is the person whom the 5,000 supporters elected at the congress last year to become the president.