The Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe (CAZ) was the final incarnation of a party formerly called the Republican Front, and prior to that it was called the

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...

. In the immediate post-independence period, the party sought to promote the position of

whites in Zimbabwe White Zimbabweans are people in Zimbabwe who are of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these Zimbabweans of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers and a small minorit ...

and did not initially seek support amongst other ethnic groups. Following the abolition of the "white roll" seats in parliament, the CAZ attempted to distance itself from its past and appeal to black voters.

White politics post-independence

White politics in Zimbabwe immediately after independence were mainly involved in contesting 20 reserved "white roll" seats in the Zimbabwe parliament, although some whites joined

ZANU (PF) The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that Rhodesian Bush War, fought against White people in Zimbabwe, white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU sp ...

. The RF party remained under the dominance of

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

who insisted on keeping its identity as a white party concentrating on issues of importance to whites. The RF and later CAZ did not contest common roll seats in either 1980 or 1985. The inadequacy of this as a political strategy quickly became apparent. Most of the sitting RF MPs in the 1980 to 85 parliament either became independents or defected to ZANU. Smith's response to this in the 1985 general election was to mount a campaign against the defectors, and RF (now renamed CAZ) succeeded in winning 15 of the 20 white seats. The white seats in Parliament were abolished in 1987, although CAZ continued to enjoy limited representation at municipal level. By that time, white-led civic groups such as the CZI (Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry) and CFU (Commercial Farmers Union) were openly supporting ZANU (PF).

1985 - 1992

Following the abolition of the "white roll" seats in parliament, the CAZ attempted to shed some of its past legacy and broaden its appeal by reaching out to black voters and advertising membership to people of all races. In July 1992,

chaired a meeting of opposition political groups with a view to forming a political front to oppose ZANU (PF). This meeting was attended by representatives of Rhodesian-era parties including CAZ,

UANC The United African National Council (UANC) is a political party in Zimbabwe. It was briefly the ruling party during 1979–1980, when its leader Abel Muzorewa was Prime Minister. History The party was founded by Muzorewa in 1971.< ...

, ZANU-Ndonga and ZUM. The Forum for Democratic Reform and the Forum Party (incorporating CAZ) emerged from this.

Footnotes

{{Authority control 1984 establishments in Zimbabwe 1992 disestablishments in Zimbabwe Conservative parties in Zimbabwe Defunct political parties in Zimbabwe Political parties disestablished in 1992 Political parties established in 1984 Political parties of minorities Protestant political parties White nationalism in Zimbabwe White nationalist parties