Zimbabwe's two major opposition parties sign coalition agreement

Two of Zimbabwe's biggest opposition parties in terms of legislative representation on Thursday signed a coalition deal to fight the 2018 general elections against President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Welshman Ncube buried the hatchet following their acrimonious split in 2005.

They signed the coalition agreement a day after Tsvangirai had signed the same with Mugabe's former deputy in both party and government, Joice Mujuru, who now leads the National People's Party.

Ncube was secretary-general in the original MDC which split over differences on whether the party should contest in senatorial elections held that year, with Tsvangirai, who was against participating, remaining with the bigger chunk of membership.

The MDCs have been trying to dislodge Mugabe from power since 2000 but observers have attributed their failure to do so to disunity among all opposition parties.

Tsvangirai on Thursday pledged to revive industries, create jobs, attract investment and end the prevailing cash crisis if the coalition is elected into power.

He urged opposition supporters to register as voters so that they could secure their children's future.

"Let's go out in our numbers and register to vote so that we can usher in a new dispensation where every Zimbabwean irrespective of race, creed, religion or tribe is given an equal opportunity to prosper," he said.

He also acknowledged past mistakes he and Ncube had made leading to the first split in the party.

"We split our party in 2005. The cost of that vote splitting in addition to the blatant manipulation of results was delayed change for the people of Zimbabwe in 2008. Ladies and gentleman, it takes humble leadership to accept one's mistakes but it takes bold leadership to correct those mistakes," he said.

Apart from forming an alliance with Tsvangirai, Ncube has already engaged other smaller political parties under the banner of the Convention of Democrats, which also serves the purpose of a coalition.

Mujuru, whose party is still to form structures, was booted out of Zanu-PF in 2014 over allegations that she wanted to topple Mugabe through unconstitutional means. Endit