The Forum party was formed on 28 March 1993 and was led by a former Zimbabwean Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena.[2] 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. Smith had chaired a meeting in 1992 hoping to unite opposition groups of all races against Mugabe's government.[3]
However, by the 1995 parliamentary elections the party was suffering from internal divisions,[4] with a breakaway group forming a rival Forum Party for Democracy.[3] The party stood only 28 candidates in the 1995 elections and failed to gain any seats, winning 5.9% of the vote.[1]
