Makoni rules out alliance

Makoni rules out alliance

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By Paul Simao

ZIMBABWEAN presidential hopeful Simba Makoni said Monday he would not form a coalition with the main opposition party because it would alienate dissenters in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party.

Both Makoni, expelled from Mugabe’s Zanu PF and running as an independent in the March 29 presidential election, and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), have rejected the idea of forming a united front.

Analysts said their determination to go it alone could split the opposition vote and pave the way for Mugabe’s re-election to another five-year term.

“There are a large number of people in Zanu PF who share my proper vision. I don’t want to alienate those people by forming a coalition with one entity,” Makoni said in an interview with Talk Radio 702. “I am in a coalition with the people of Zimbabwe.”

Tsvangirai has also dismissed the idea of a coalition, telling supporters on Saturday that the MDC was the legitimate voice for democratic change in the country. A smaller MDC faction has, however, thrown its support behind Makoni.

Faction leader Arthur Mutambara said last week Makoni had the ability to “split the military”. Many observers believe Makoni has the backing of Vice-President Joyce Mujuru, the wife of the influential and wealthy former general, Solomon Mujuru.

Media have speculated that the two will form a united front to end Mugabe’s 28-year rule .

Makoni also denied yesterday that his candidacy would help Mugabe.

“I am nobody’s tool,” he said.

“The fall of President Mugabe’s government has been a constant matter for speculation for a long time, but the events of the past 12 months have plunged the president’s stock so low to the extent that the question which now dominates discussion among many is how long can he continue to deny this inevitability,” Makoni said in his first campaign message at the weekend.

“It is not just his enemies who believe the end is nigh, but the solid centre of Zanu PF is rapidly coming to the same conclusion. Even those he can still count on as friends and allies admit as much in private whatever their protestations of loyalty in public.”

Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has heaped scorn on his two main opponents, comparing Makoni to a puffed-up frog and political prostitute, and calling Tsvangirai a puppet of Britain and the US.

The UK and US have accused Mugabe’s government of widespread human rights abuses, stifling dissent and destroying a once-prosperous economy through poor policies and corruption.

Tsvangirai launched his campaign a well attended rally in Mutare at the weekend, threatening to defeat Mugabe this time round and revive the economy. Tsvangirai, who lost to Mugabe in a disputed poll in 2002, has also dismissed Makoni, saying he was “old wine in a new bottle”. - Reuters
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