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Accept I won or there will be no talks, MDC chief tells Mugabe



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Published Date: 03 July 2008
By Cris Chinaka
THE Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has rejected talks on a unity government, saying the president, Robert Mugabe, must first stop the violence and accept him as the rightful election winner.
African Union leaders called at a summit on Tuesday for the two sides to negotiate to end the crisis after Mr Mugabe's re-election in a run-off ballot that was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed by much of the world as a sham.

Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, who won the first-round vote in March, pulled out of the election after attacks on his supporters. Yesterday, he said: "The conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe are not conducive to negotiations. If dialogue is to be initiated, it is essential that Zanu-PF (the ruling party] stops the violence, halts the persecution of MDC leaders and supporters."

Mr Tsvangirai said talks had to be based on recognising only the first round vote.

Mr Mugabe's officials earlier welcomed the AU call for talks on a power-sharing government, saying that was "in conformity" with what Mr Mugabe had suggested.



The full article contains 193 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 02 July 2008 10:18 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Zimbabwe
 
1

Tatties ower the side,

Johannesburg 03/07/2008 06:35:12
A Unity government that spends all its time fighting each other will not get Zimbabwe out of its problems.
2

Media 1,

cape town 03/07/2008 07:31:25
Tatties

You are ofcourse correct, a unity government serves no purpose at all, excpet to save Mugabe anf his henchmen from prosecution.
My theory is this; Mbeki and Mugabe are friends, bottom line. Mbeki like Mugabe recognises that Zanu PF has reached the point of no return, the country is in total decline and recvovery under the current regime is impossible, the game is up. HOWEVER, if Zanu PF was to accept the MDC as winners it would mean that Mugabe along with his henchmen would be arrested and put on trial for crimes against humanity.
So when the MDC won the election, Mugabe and his inner cabinet along with the generals sat down and looked at eachother saying, "guys if we dont delay the results and earn enough votes for a run off, we ALL go on trial and we ALL face the death penalty"
In that moment they all understood the severity of the problem and did what it took to ensure there was no MDC victory.
Mbeki also understood the severity of the problem and he also knew that Mugabe as a murderous villain would surely be sentenced to death if he lost the election, so Mbeki did the next best thing, he opted for a co-alition government, thus ensuring change and saving Mugabe from firing squad.
Morgan Tsvangari is not daft and he is playing his corner so well. He knows why the call for a coalition government is being spoken about, I mean cmon, if ZANU PF really believed they won fair and square would they offer the MDC such an offer? He knows Mugabe and his henchmen are running scared and he knows that if he just hangs in there, Mugabe will soon be removed by his own generals because the longer the uncertainty goes on, the jittery they will all become and they will start to jump ship.
The sad thing about this is that it happens all the time in Africa because the liberation parties are not politically motivated, they are military motivated and hell bent on keeping what they deem as their right to RULE for life. Maybe the next generation of African leadership w
3

Media 1,

03/07/2008 07:32:04
will bring with it some great political minds, as opposed to a whole bunch of malitia type thinking.

 

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