The Forum Party of Zimbabwe (FPZ) was a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

political party in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The Forum party was formed on 28 March 1993 and was led by a former Zimbabwean Chief Justice

Enoch Dumbutshena Enoch Dumbutshena (20 April 1920 – 14 December 2000) was a distinguished Zimbabwean judge known for defending the independence of that country's judicial branch. He became Zimbabwe's first black judge in 1980 and served as Chief Justice of ...

. It was formed by a merge between the Forum for Democratic Reform (Trust), which Dumbutshena had led, and the Open Forum. One of its other predecessors was the Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe which had been led by former Rhodesian Prime Minister

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 ...

. Smith had chaired a meeting in 1992 hoping to unite opposition groups of all races against Mugabe's government. The party called for powers to be

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

to the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

and government expenditure to be cut, for instance by cutting the number of

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

s from 43 to 14. The party soon became the biggest of the opposition parties, and analysts saw it as a serious threat to the dominance of the

Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Moza ...

. However, by the 1995 parliamentary elections the party was suffering from internal divisions, with a breakaway group forming a rival Forum Party for Democracy. The party stood only 28 candidates in the 1995 elections and failed to gain any seats, winning 5.9% of the vote. The party merged into the

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congress ...

in December 1999.

References

{{Zimbabwean political parties 1993 establishments in Zimbabwe Conservative parties in Zimbabwe Defunct political parties in Zimbabwe Political parties established in 1993 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Political parties disestablished in 1999