MDC Alliance leader and presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa
(pictured) is yet to formalise a proposed coalition deal with former
President Robert Mugabe’s National Patriotic Front (NPF) just a day
before the nomination court sits to decide candidates for next month’s
general election, NewsDay has established.
This came after NPF spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire claimed last week
that they had sealed the deal and what was only left was the sharing of
constituencies.
“We have completed that exercise, the sharing of constituencies is
not an issue, that one is done. In fact, the issue that is outstanding
is to announce the number of constituencies that we [NPF] are going to
contest in,” Mawarire said then.
Mawarire added that he already had a seat allocated to him along with
NPF secretary for administration Shadreck Mashayamombe and national
commissar Jeppy Jaboon.
But MDC Alliance spokesperson, Welshman Ncube yesterday dismissed the claims, accusing NPF officials of jumping the gun.
“There is no agreement. People are running ahead of themselves. There
is no agreement with NPF and I can tell you for a fact that MDC
Alliance’s highest organ, the principals’ forum has not approved or
discussed an agreement with that party,” Ncube told NewsDay.
Contacted for comment over the latest developments, Mawarire
yesterday said he was busy preparing his party’s candidate list for the
elections.
“We are busy preparing for the nomination court,” the NPF spokesperson said.
Asked if there had been any movement on the issue of forming a coalition with Chamisa’s MDC Alliance, Mawarire said: “It’s what we are working on.”
Highly-placed NPF sources claimed the party, which has its roots in
Zanu PF’s vanquished G40 faction, had been allocated as much as 80 seats
across the country.
“These guys [MDC Alliance] approached us as way back as January and
we have been allocated about 82 seats across the country in both urban
and rural constituencies,” an NPF official, who declined to be named for
fear of jeopardising last-minute negotiations, said.
On this, Ncube said the MDC Alliance had “an arrangement with individuals linked to the NPF”.
“There are constituencies that we know historically to be Zanu PF
strongholds and that we believe NPF candidates could do better,” he
said.
“Constituencies like Harare South previously held by Mashayamombe,
the one once held by [former Masvingo provincial minister Kudakwashe]
Bhasikiti in Mwenezi and another one in Bikita. They are not more than
five and we cannot then translate that to a coalition pact with the
party. These individuals have negotiated as individuals and will run
under the banner of the MDC Alliance.”
Ncube expressed fears that an agreement likely to come hours before
the nomination court sits tomorrow may cause chaos in the alliance.
“It is true there could be problems because we would need to ask our
people who already have interests in specific constituencies to stand
down. We have said the door remains , especially if it serves the
greater good and we will support it. It is going to be difficult, but
problems are always there to be resolved,” he said.
The NPF is battling to control internal fissures after its executive
last week fired party interim leader Ambrose Mutinhiri and appointed
Eunice Sandi-Moyo in his stead.
But the former Mashonaland East provincial minister Mutinhiri, who
has ruled out going to bed with Chamisa’s coalition group, in turn fired
his executive, insisting that he was still NPF leader. Newsday
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