Makoni teaming with Mutambara

Posted in News Updates on 15th Feb, 2008

Simba Makoni and Arthur Mutambara are expected to announce today on a new united formation after a week long series of talks, the ZimEye can reveal.

If this succeeds, their united formation is anticipated to stand strong against both Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai who both have dominated the political field for close to a decade.

Speaking to the VOA, Vice President Gibson Sibanda of the Mutambara MDC formation said the deal would be announced Friday in a joint news conference by Mutambara and Makoni. Such an alliance would undermine the candidacies of both President Robert Mugabe, seeking re-election, and Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC founder who is also running. Robert Mugabe, who in the past has emphasised that the only way to the State House is through the ballot box, will be facing his stiffest challenge ever since independence in 1980.

The Mutambara and Tsvangirai factions recently announced that they had not been able to overcome their differences to reunite behind a single presidential candidate.

Several MDC officials have in the past few days confirmed this development. If successful, most Zimbabweans are expected to vote for Makoni's candidacy rather than Mugabe or Tsvangirai both whose competencies many Zimbabweans now doubt.

VOA, ZimEye.