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New political group emerges
Njabulo Ncube, The Financial Gazette
July 22, 2004

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/July/July22/6032.shtml

In what could be the clearest sign yet that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) remains sitting on the fence as regards next year's election, the opposition party this week admitted that it is, to all intents and purposes, undecided whether or not to participate in the crucial poll.

News that the opposition party has adopted a wait-and-see attitude with regards to the next poll comes after it emerged that a shadowy political grouping to be known as the Broad Alliance - suspected to have strong links with the main opposition MDC - is envisaged to be launched in Harare next week. Its specific brief would be to gauge the mood of the voters in the run-up to next year's polls. The polls are slated for March 2005 but the exact dates have not been made public.

Impeccable sources within the MDC yesterday said that one of the priorities of the Broad Alliance would be to gauge the temperature of the country's treacherous political waters and ascertain from the electorate whether or not the MDC should boycott the polls.

While the signal the MDC has been sending is that it has President Robert Mugabe on the ropes after he experienced a severe crisis of public confidence in the face of the shrunken state of the once-robust economy, its decision to participate in next year's poll will be very much dependent on the exercise being undertaken by the Broad Alliance, the sources said.

The move by the MDC comes at a time when ZANU PF, its main rival which has been reluctant to renounce its monopoly on power, is already girding its loins for what could be another watershed poll in Zimbabwe's nascent democracy.

Although views and opinions were starkly divided over whether this was the best way forward for the MDC, a significant number of observers said that the apparent indecision on the part of the MDC, which many thought could capitalise on voter anger, could have far-reaching repercussions.

In terms of opposition politics in Zimbabwe, the MDC, led by the firebrand former trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai, has been the biggest hope. Other fringe political parties, which only emerge during election time and disappear into oblivion thereafter, do not register on the relevance radar.

"When the dates (voting dates) are out and we are not satisfied with the electoral changes we will take appropriate action at the appropriate time. The exercise by the Broad Alliance will help us gauge the mood of the people," said Paul Themba Nyathi, the MDC spokesperson.

The insiders said after collecting five million signatures throughout the country, the Broad Alliance would petition President Mugabe if its findings indicate that the people feel that the political environment does not meet the minimum conditions conducive to a free and fair election. This would be in line with the MDC's 15 demands to the government for changes to the country's electoral process.

"About two million five hundred signatures have been collected as we speak out of a proposed five million signatures. If these five million people decide that it is impossible to hold free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, it will be up to the MDC to decide. What the Broad Alliance envisages doing is to gauge the political mood on behalf of the main opposition," said one insider privy to the grand scheme.

Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, a civic organisation lobbying for constitutional reform before the staging of any elections in Zimbabwe, is strongly linked to the coalition working on the petition.

Madhuku yesterday said there were discussions to create an alliance by "democratic forces" - among them civic organisations - in Zimbabwe to peacefully fight for democratic space through petitioning the government.

"It (Broad Alliance) has not been launched but there are discussions to create such an alliance which will fight for democratic space in the country on the basis of a charter which has to be agreed by all the democratic forces working to achieve a similar goal," said Madhuku. "We are in the process of drawing up a charter and will thereafter launch a petition calling for certain things, such as constitutional and electoral reforms, among other issues that we feel are militating against the enjoyment of democracy in our society," he said.

Sources added that the official launch of the Broad Alliance had been delayed as other fringe political parties and civic organisations that had been invited to the grouping were yet to commit themselves to the plan, seen as an attempt to prop up the MDC, whose fortunes some political analysts believe have been on the decline since the historic June 2000 poll.

A number of civic organisations associated with the main opposition confirmed the covert existence of the Broad Alliance, with most branding it a grand scheme to help the MDC try to wrest power from the ruling ZANU PF, which has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.

Nyathi, the MDC legislator for Gwanda North, said of the alliance: "What Broad Alliance entails is that democratic forces in Zimbabwe have decided to collaborate on a wide frontier. It is designed to consolidate the fight for democratic space. The organisations in the alliance will retain their individual autonomy. These organisations, which include civic society and political parties other than ZANU PF, are brought together by the crisis in Zimbabwe. They are brought together by their subscription to the same values of solidarity, equality and the pursuit for a better life for all Zimbabweans."

He said that a petition with five million signatures would be authored and produced "to express that the people of Zimbabwe require the opening of democratic space through electoral reforms so that people are free to elect leaders of their choice, among other issues. The collection of signatures is being enthusiastically supported by the generality of the people. The signatures are a way of exerting political pressure so that changes sought are authentic and far-reaching."

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