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Makoni holds balance of power
06/04/2008 16:01 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's former finance minister Simba Makoni may have come a distant third in the presidential election, but he could emerge as the kingmaker in the aftermath of the bitterly-contested poll.
Makoni, 58, quit the ruling Zanu-PF party to mount his challenge against President Robert Mugabe and main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, but unofficial results put him a distant third in the March 29 vote.
"Obviously he will be a kingmaker. Either of the two will need Makoni," said Professor Eldred Masunungure, a political expert at the University of Zimbabwe.
Makoni is thought to have played a "spoiling" role in the presidential battle so far, winning enough votes to prevent his rivals from passing the 50% mark needed for outright victory.
But this could change if indeed the duel for the presidency goes to a run-off: analysts believe his supporters will hold the balance of power.
"In the second round, he is becoming the ultimate winner, playing the role of an influential factor on who wins," said Joseph Kurebga, a political scientist expert and colleague of Masunungure. To form political party
In an apparent bid to spruce up his electoral machinery, Makoni's camp announced plans on Saturday to form a political party, after he stood as an independent in the presidential elections.
"We will be formalising our movement into a fully-fledged political party," his spokesperson Denford Magora told AFP.
For the parliamentary polls, Makoni entered a loose alliance with a splinter faction of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and a host of independent candidates.
The MDC faction garnered just 10 of the 210 parliamentary seats, while Tsvangirai's main bloc took 99 and Mugabe's Zanu-PF 97.
Makoni's movement is widely expected to back Tsvangirai in the event of a run-off with President Mugabe, but his spokesperson said nothing had yet been finalised.
Zanu-PF ploy?
"No decision has been made as to who we will back as we are still awaiting results of the presidential elections."
However, if Zimbabwe's elections have proved anything so far, it is that nothing is for certain. One-time Mugabe information minister Jonathan Moyo believes Makoni's candidacy is actually a ruling party ploy.
"He denied Tsvangirai an outright victory and gave Mugabe a new lease of life. It was a Zanu-PF project aimed at preventing Tsvangirai from the leadership," said Moyo.
If unofficial results are to be believed, Mugabe will clearly find it very difficult to win a sixth term without Makoni's support.
But in the run-up to the polls, Mugabe labelled his former protegé a political "prostitute" and described him as "a frog trying to inflate itself to the size of an ox", warning he would "burst in the attempt."
But if anybody needs Makoni more, it is Mugabe, according to Masunungure.
"Unless he mobilises the support base which did not vote in the first round, there is no doubt that Robert Mugabe will need Makoni in order to make it back to State House (the presidential palace)," he said.
Less than half of Zimbabwe's 5.9 million eligible voters voted last week and both Mugabe and Tsvangirai will look to tap into the huge reserve of untapped voters if the presidency goes to a run-off.
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