Makoni and Tsvangirai explore coalition gov’t for runoff elections

BY Wilson Watson

HARARE, Zimbabwe- ZIMBABWE opposition presidential candidates Simba Makoni and Morgan Tsvangirai could bury their differences to unite against President Robert Mugabe in a run-off against the veteran leader if Saturday’s ballot is inconclusive.
Nkosana Moyo, a top official for Makoni said the opposition camps would form a united front against Mugabe should he fail to win an outright majority that he needs to avoid a second round.

Moyo, a former cabinet minister and national campaign coordinator for Makoni, said “Zimbabweans would like to see an end to Mugabe’s mismanagement, so any configuration that leads to a run-off will see Mugabe on one side and everybody else on the other”. However the two powerful politicians have refused to form a coalition before Saturday’s elections.
Tsvangirai is the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change while Makoni is an independent candidate.

The Zimbabwean law stipulates that for a candidate to be declared a winner, he/she must have more than 51 percent of the voters. Failure to garner the required vote will see a run-off between the first and second candidates within 21 days after the announcement of the results.
Analysts said a joint Tsvangirai and Makoni ticket has a greater chance of overpowering Mugabe who has been in power since the country attained independence in 1980.