Posted by Gweru-MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai vowed on Sunday that he would not sign any power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe unless the 84-year-old leader agreed to give up executive power.
Tsvangirai – sounding more defiant than ever before – said it was better for his MDC party to pull out of power-sharing talks with the ruling ZANU PF party than accept a deal that would leave the status quo untouched with Mugabe still entitled to his current wide-sweeping powers as head of state and government.
“Mugabe must be head of state and Tsvangirai head of government, without that I will not sign,” Tsvangirai told a rally to celebrate the MDC’s ninth anniversary in the city of Gweru in central Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai promised not to bow to pressure from talks mediator South African President Thabo Mbeki to sign a draft deal that has been endorsed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) but which the MDC leader has rejected saying it would make him a “ceremonial prime minister” in a government of national unity.
“Mbeki is coming but be rest assured he is not the one who is going to sign,” said Tsvangirai, adding: “We would rather have no deal than have a bad deal.”
Mbeki, who is the SADC’s chief mediator in the Zimbabwe talks, is expected in Harare on Monday to try once more to push Tsvangirai to sign the draft deal that Mugabe and a breakaway faction of the MDC that is led by Arthur Mutambara have already agreed to.
Under the draft power-sharing deal Mugabe would remain executive president in charge of both state and government while Tsvangirai would be prime minister but without power to hire or fire government ministers. He would also not chair Cabinet meetings. The MDC leader would also be required to report regularly to Mugabe.
Tsvangirai insists he should get the lion’s share in any power-sharing government because he defeated Mugabe in the first round presidential voting on March 29 although he failed to secure the margin required to takeover the presidency.
The March vote is widely regarded as more credible than a second round run-off poll on June 27 won by Mugabe who was the only candidate after Tsvangirai pulled out because of state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Western nations and several African countries have refused to recognise the June poll.
The opposition leader challenged Mugabe to call a fresh poll if he was not willing to give up power through negotiations. “We are saying to him you can call another election under international supervision and let’s see who is going to win that race,” he said.
Photos from the MDC celebrations.Click to enlarge
-Additional Reporting by zimonline.
Surely Morgan has time on his side because the sanctions do not bite him. But, he should be reminded that time is not on Zimbabwean peoples’ side.
Going by the March 29 election results which are so widely quoted by the MDC-T, the sympathizers and the West, one will almost deduce that the people are on the side of both the MDC and Zanu PF. Hardly any party got the required majority. So what does the MDC-T leader mean when he says: “And we have people behind us”? All utterances by the MDC-T leader have become devoid of real strategy, agenda and real substance that transforms the lives of people and addresses the needs of the majority of Zimbabweans who are currently under Western-imposed sanctions. Such populist rhetoric has failed to elevate the MDC-T leader to the levels of statesmanship that many of supporters expected he should have reached by now. How logical is it to call for a fresh election, when you boycotted one? And why should the international scene monitor Zimbabwean elections when Zimbabwe is not invited to monitor their elections? I have never heard the EU monitoring elections in the UK or USA despite the many reports of rigging in those elections. George W. Bush is known to have rigged the election that got him into power. Al Gore had won that election, but no international condemnation or outcry was forthcoming.
Morgan Tsvangirai should realize that people are now getting fed up of this empty rhetoric that has become characteristic of the whole MDC-T leadership. It is now time for real action, not empty words.
ViVa Cde RG Mugabe,,,,,, he got standing ovation in Swaziland
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But surely MDC 9 years of what!?? ……………..I guess its still the old “policy” Mugabe must go!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahhahaaah shame on you! what have you achieved as a Democratic part, that the majority of Zimbawe will say aah now we have a part for the people by the people…….. nothing nothing nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!
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We have seen the dangers of allowing outsiders to come in, found and fund an opposition. It has disastrous consequences. We need a home grown opposition whose leadership espouses our uBuntu. One whose leader can travel on a diplomatic Zimbabwean passport to promote the country abroad. What we do not need is a political psycho who travels abroad to promote the destruction of the country via sanctions. The Zanu government had the opportunity to allow a better opposition to emerge over the years. They failed in that duty and must now make amends. The rest of Africa must take note and learn from Zimbabwe’s tragedy-Western funded political opposition parties are bad news!
The MDC is nine years on the 11th of September. I hope in another nine years they will be a negligible footnote in the nation’s history. For that to happen, the nation’s founding fathers in Zanu must take a long hard look in the mirror and be honest about what went wrong. They must recognize that they took their eyes off the ball and allowed political upstarts like the greedy leadership of the MDC to emerge and hold our country to ransom. Surely as seasoned revolutionaries we expect and should have been led better by our leadership. Having fought and defeated imperialists in previous rounds, they must have been ready for the next round but unfortunately President Mugabe and company took their gloves off midway during the fight in the 90’s. Now that they have their gloves back on, let’s hope the MDC and its handlers do not last the distance. Another nine years of this unpalatable entity is hard to imagine. Somehow it must be thrown to the rubbish tip where it belongs.
Then Zimbabwe will live again.
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If the West are promising Zimbabwe this and that and the MDC supporters are holding their breath for a better world, why isnt Angola, with all its oil and western input, a better place?
Is Botswana, with all its diamonds, any better for its western expats inhabiting its rich suburbs? Maybe inside their own homes but out on the streets there are still homeless and diseased nationals dying of this or that. and dont lets even talk about the deal the poor San were dished up.
and Zambia?
complete with all our white farmers and its western influence – is it truly any better off than we are in Zimbabwe?
yes, its a good thing we can go there and shop – why do you think they support sanctions? so we go there and shop – of course! Same with Botswana. Its called strategic voting.
South Africa is not the best place to go to – they dont like foreigners in their face – as has been proved.
If you can work that hard in other countries to survive, why not work as hard in Zimbabwe?
when the majority of our 5m out there decide to return home its because they will be sick to the gut of western morals and a materialistic world of plastic goods – that is what will bring them home in the end and cause them to turn their backs on the world because blood is thicker than water and they will realise that their kids and families they all left behind are more valuable – not endeavouring to find a better life which has proved non-existent because the UK is now reaping its karma with the credit crunch.
Only when every Zimbo realises that its in the here and now and what we do in pulling together as a nation (disregarding outside influence) black and white together as one people concerned with day to day issues and intent on making Zimbabwe a better place, an honest place with real values, that will make Zimbabwe a better place for all to live and bring up our children our way in.
This is exactly what we should all have done in the first place instead of wasting time as we have done in searching for that illusive dream.
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Tsvangirai is all about gaining power no matter what the cost, he will lay waste to all Zimbabweans if that is what it costs
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morgidza tsvangwa, listen to yourself running your mouth like that, yeee this, yeee that, yack, yack, the deal is getting signed today.
These talks are not about the positions, they are about the economy stupit !!!
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