Former Opposition leader Arthur Mutambara who was the country’s Deputy Prime Minister for four years says President Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front will win next year’s elections because the deeply divided opposition is giving them leeway.
According to reports, Mutambarasaid: “Mugabe and ZANU-PF will win next year’s elections. They will rig the vote and a deeply divided opposition will give ZANU-PF the plausible rationale to get away with it.”
Zimbabwe’s opposition has failed to come up with a credible single coalition to confront Mugabe with Morgan Tsvangirai, who beat Mugabe in 2008, forming an alliance with six other parties, while Mugabe’s former deputy Joice Mujuru has formed another coalition.
While the ruling party is currently divided along factional lines with one group supporting Mugabe and his wife Grace and the other behind Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mutambara said the ruling prty will patch up its differences for the elections.
“ZANU-PF will unite for the elections. Mnangagwa and his Lacoste group will be weakened, but the Vice-President won’t be expelled from the ruling party,” Mutambara said.
“Mugabe took his 2008 defeat very, very badly. He was devastated. So, ZANU-PF will rig the elections to ensure its leader is not humiliated again.”
