Republican Front
LeaderIan Smith
Founded6 June 1981 (1981-06-06)
Dissolved23 July 1984 (1984-07-23)
Preceded byRhodesian Front
Succeeded byConservative Alliance of Zimbabwe
HeadquartersSalisbury
IdeologyConservatism
White minority interests
Political positionRight-wing
ColoursPurple

The Republican Front was a political party in Zimbabwe in the 1980s, led by Ian Smith as the continuation of the Rhodesian Front. The name change came on 6 June 1981 as an attempt to distance itself from its policies of the past.[1]

On 23 July 1984 it was renamed the Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe. At that time the party, which had started with an all-white membership, tried to appeal to black members, as well as black voters who wished to oppose the policies of the Robert Mugabe government.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ John McLaughlin, "Ian Smith and the Future of Zimbabwe," The National Review, October 30, 1981, pp. 2168-70; William C. Pollard, Jr., A Career of Defiance: The Life of Ian Smith (Topeka, Kans.: Agusan River Publishing Co., 1992), pp. 105-7, 131.
  2. ^ Pollard, p. 112, 131; Facts on File, 1984 ed., p. 574
  3. ^ "Ian Smith Invites Blacks to Join His Party", The New York Times, July 23, 1984, p. A5.


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