Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s 56 year old politician and leader of a political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that came close to end Zanu PF's 84 year old Robert Mugabe's grip on power since 1980 through the presidential ballot last March, has said time is ripe to put political differences aside and work for the good of Zimbabweans lives.
Tsvangirai made the commitment after his party’s National Council meeting on Friday endorsed the decision to join forces with arch-rival Mugabe in an inclusive government that would see him assume the office of Prime Minister.
“Now is the time for us to put aside our differences. To prioritise the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe in both our policies and our actions and to focus on stabilization, development, progress and democratization,” said Tsvangirai.
The MDC leader signed a power sharing agreement with Mugabe and Professor Arthur Mutambara of the smaller MDC on 15 September last year but the formation of the unity government has stalled since then due to differences over equitable power sharing.
Tsvangirai said he is optimistic that the majority Zimbabweans would rally behind him in his quest to rebuild the country’s fortunes on a down turn for close to a decade now; with inflation astronomical levels of 231 million percent officially though independent economists argue it is well above that.
“In this (nation building), I know we have the support of the vast majority of Zimbabweans, both in Zanu PF and the MDC, in the civil service, the workers and the business community and we look forward to working with you to rebuild our great nation,” he said.
He also said the success of the inclusive government is depends on the “goodwill of the parties involved.”
“The success of this inclusive government is dependent on many factors including the goodwill of the parties involved, the support of the people of Zimbabwe and the continued engagement and vigilance of SADC, AU and the broader international community in ensuring that all parties are bound by the letter and spirit of the GPA (Global Political Agreement) and the commitments made at the last SADC summit.
The MDC president reiterated that joining the unity government is not necessarily the option to resolving Zimbabwe’s waning socio-economic and political destiny but that as a party MDC views this as a path to attain a democratic Zimbabwe in this realm (unity government).
“Let us make no mistake, by joining an inclusive government, we are not saying that this is a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis, instead our participation signifies that we have chosen to continue the struggle for a democratic Zimbabwe in a new arena.”
He said the power sharing agreement is a “milestone” to democracy in Zimbabwe ‘regardless of how long that struggle takes us.”
Meanwhile MDC secretary general, Mr Tendai Biti has sued the state controlled daily newspaper, The Herald for defamation over stories it carried that alleged that he was against the unity government and leading a group in MDC that planned to topple Tsvangirai. Biti is slapping the paper with a US$500 000 defamation lawsuit.
