THE revived ZAPU, which is yet to make a meaningful impact on the country's political landscape since its 2009 alleged pull-out from the ruling ZANU-PF, has begun preparations for an elective congress due next year. The party had a false start in its first ever appearance in the national polls last year when it failed to field candidates in some constituencies culminating in a devastating defeat at the hands of ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T).
This was despite the party having entered an alliance with the Welshman Ncube-led MDC a few days before the July 31 elections. The pact was, however, weak from the beginning since both Dumiso Dabengwa, ZAPU president and Ncube went on to contest the presidential race, which was won by President Robert Mugabe. ZAPU is one of the opposition parties in the country engaged in discussions to form a grand coalition to challenge ZANU-PF in the next elections due in 2018.
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