THE MDC-T has said the current economic problems facing the country are out of control and require opposition parties to accept their idea of “national convergence” to alleviate the country’s challenges.
by Edgar Gweshe
The party spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora told a public meeting organised by the Media Centre in Harare on Thursday that even the MDC-T alone had no capacity to resolve the problems if given the opportunity to do so.
He said problems currently facing Zimbabwe transcended political boundaries, hence the need to find synergies.
Mwonzora said the MDC-T would be inviting civic society groups to join hands in an endeavor to find a solution to Zimbabwe’s economic and political woes.
“What we have realised is that the problems facing Zimbabwe do not affect MDC people alone. What we mean by national convergence is that we must face national issues without looking at our political identities,” he said.
“It’s a paradigm shift on our part. We are thinking of our colleagues even those with less membership than ours. We are saying let’s work together. The problems Zimbabwe is facing are beyond the capacity of one political party and they are beyond the capacity of the present government. So we are saying let us work together.”
Since last year’s harmonised elections won by President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, the economy has been on a downward spiral with unemployment levels rising due to the continued closure of industries.
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Mwonzora’s proposal was however shot down by National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) national spokesperson, Madock Chivasa.
Chivasa said they were suspicious the MDC-T was only trying to mobilise other parties for them to garner more votes at election time.
“I do not see anything wrong with opposition parties working together, especially if it is to do with improving the people’s welfare, but what we are not interested in is a convergence to do with elections. We have a problem when someone calls us so that we can have one candidate during elections,” said Chivasa. Mwonzora however reiterated that his party’s proposal was made in good faith.
“They think that the MDC-T is out to cheat them and then rule alone, but what we are saying on the issue of a national convergence is that it is high time we have a change of thinking. The issue of a national convergence is different from an election pact which deals with who should be our candidate.
“We are talking about the problems facing Zimbabwe and how best they can be solved,” said Mwonzora.
