The Movement for Democratic (MDC) formation of Welshman Ncube and the MDC-Renewal held a joint rally at the weekend which they described as successful.
The rally was part of an agreement that the two formations proposed after their merging ceremony last year.
The leaders of the coalition took turns to lambast Morgan Tsvangirai. MDC-Renewal team secretary-general Tendai Biti had unkind words for Tsvangirai and described him as an “idiot” who wasted their time.
“The UMDC was the missing link in Zimbabwean politics and it’s an umbrella,” he said.
MDC president Welshman Ncube said in the formative stages of the original MDC in 1999, they were warned by MDC-Renewal team interim leader Sekai Holland against picking Tsvangirai, but that warning was brushed aside.
A policy conference is earmarked for April to receive and adopt the reunification progress report and adopt the united party’s draft constitution.
According to the reunification roadmap that the two formations hammered out late last year, the two parties were expected to submit lists of their respective structures to the national standing committee by last Saturday, although it remains unclear whether that deadline was met.
The two formations are then expected to continue restructuring their parties then eventually in August they will merge them before holding an elective congress that is expected to bring out the leaders as a united party.
Meanwhile, the two parties will co-exist alongside each other under the banner of United MDC.
We reached renewal chairman, Sam Sipepa Nkomo who narrates how the two parties will eventually merge into one later in August this year.
For analysis we reached independent commentator, Chamunorwa Madiridze, who says the two formations are uniting at time when the main MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai faces serious challenges.