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'No backlash against Mugabe'
04/03/2008 11:48 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's former finance minister Simba Makoni says there will be no backlash against veteran President Robert Mugabe if he topples him at this month's general election.
Makoni said: "President Mugabe is someone who has a very special place in our history," Makoni said, ruling out retribution against Mugabe over his tainted human rights record.
"He led our country together with (the late) vice-president Joshua Nkomo into independence in 1980. He led our people with distinction in the decade and a half of our independence. We will not take those away from our elders.
"We will accord them the due respect that our African culture and African standards demand of us. We want President Mugabe to know that under our Mavambo/Kusile ("New Dawn" government) they have the same rights as other citizens.
"We are not about retribution and victimisation. We are about togetherness, oneness and I believe this is what people of Zimbabwe want."
Makoni expelled from Zanu-PF
Mugabe had been castigated by the West over alleged human rights violations including the massacre of thousands of "dissidents" in the early 1980s and the detention and assault of his opponents.
US President George W Bush had listed Zimbabwe among what he had termed "outposts of tyranny." But Makoni said he would only consider the concerns of Zimbabweans.
He said: "We are not going to be looking at concerns from the West. We are looking only at concerns of Zimbabweans, We are offering national re-engagement, national healing, national reconciliation."
Makoni, who was expelled from the ruling party last month after he announced his plan to take on Mugabe, said he was expecting to get at least 72% of the vote.
Zimbabweans go to the polls on March 29 with the population grappling with runaway inflation, which breached the 100 000% mark in January - according to official statistics while basic goods like cooking oil and sugar are often in short supply.
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