A bid by Zimbabwe's opposition parties to present a united challenge to President Robert Mugabe in elections on March 29 has collapsed, leaders from two of the main factions said Sunday. "This thing is irretrievably broken," Arthur Mutambara told reporters after a series of meetings between his bloc of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and another led by former trade unionists ended in deadlock. "People of Zimbabwe, we apologise for failing to construct a united front," Mutambara said, saying that the chances of defeating Mugabe in elections scheduled for March 29 were now sharply "reduced."
"There is a disagreement," Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the other, larger MDC faction said at a separate news conference. "We can't force it (unity) down the people's throat. It's regrettable, it's unfortunate, but that's the reality."
Both factions would participate in next month's polls despite conditions Tsvangirai said favoured Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). "We are giving the people of Zimbabwe a fighting chance against the dictatorship," Tsvangirai said. "We aim to focus on Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF as the authors of the present national crisis. |