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Tsvangirai: Mugabe must go now
17/01/2007 15:23 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday said his party was opposed to an extension of President Robert Mugabe's term in office by two years, and vowed to push for elections in 2008 under a new constitution.
Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party once formed the stiffest challenge to Mugabe's more than two-decade hold on power, said 2007 would be a watershed year, promising that the opposition would work to save Zimbabwe from further damage.
Tsvangirai said: "Zimbabwe's crisis of governance is deepening. We need to resolve the national crisis."
The former trade union leader promised a campaign of public expression of "our rejection of the extension of the status quo" in reference to plans by some in the ruling party to postpone presidential elections from 2008 to 2010, thereby giving the 82-year-old Mugabe an extra two years in power.
West 'uses MDC'
Tsvangirai didn't spell out exactly what form the public expression would take, though he promised there would be a vigorous campaign designed to push the Zimbabwean crisis into the international spotlight.
Zimbabwe was in the midst of its worst-ever economic crisis. Inflation was more than 1 200%, and there were acute shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
Mugabe and his government blamed the economic crisis on Western attempts to isolate the country. The long-time Zimbabwean leader claimed that the West was using the MDC as a front to illegally unseat him from power.
Previous attempts by the MDC to hold demonstrations had attracted only a small following that had been brutally quashed by police, while strikes had had only limited success.
The MDC itself had lost steam after a damaging split at the end of 2005. Although there had been calls for reunification between the Tsvangirai-led faction of the party and another led by former robotics professor Arthur Mutambara, there was no sign of reconciliation.
Tsvangirai said the MDC would work with civic groups and other government opponents in a relatively new coalition called Save Zimbabwe Campaign.
But, he warned the authorities would use desperate tactics to silence its opponents. He said: "We must be ready for it."
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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