(30 Jun 2009)
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday that Zimbabwe's troubled coalition government is in no danger of collapsing, despite claims President Robert Mugabe's party is blocking reform.
Tsvangirai, a former opposition leader who joined Mugabe in the unity government in February, spoke to reporters a day after one of Tsvangirai's top deputies said their party was considering disengaging from the coalition.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has complained about harassment, arrests of Mugabe opponents and Mugabe's unilateral appointments of top officials.
But Tsvangirai said on Tuesday that leaders must stand by their political commitments.
Tsvangirai said the comments made on Monday by his deputy Thokozani Khupe about disengaging were an "act of frustration."
But, he added, "there is no thinking in the MDC to pull out of the government."
Some of Tsvangirai's supporters within and outside his party had questioned the wisdom of entering the coalition, and tensions within the MDC have been evident for months.
But Tsvangirai has long insisted he sees the coalition as the only way to move Zimbabwe forward, and, so far, his opinion has prevailed.
Khupe said the latest irritant came when Mugabe rescheduled the weekly Cabinet meeting from Tuesday to Monday because he was going to be out of town for an African Union summit in Libya.
At a news conference, Khupe depicted that as a snub to Tsvangirai, her party's leader, saying he should have chaired the meeting in Mugabe's absence.
Tsvangirai and Mugabe formed their coalition after being pressed by neighbouring states to end a decade of violent confrontation and work together to resolve the southern African nation's severe economic crisis.
Tsvangirai said on Tuesday he and Mugabe would discuss problems in the coalition when Mugabe returned from the AU summit.
The MDC earlier called on neighbouring countries in the Southern African Development Community, that pushed for the coalition, to step in to help sort out problems, but the prime minister said Tuesday that Zimbabwe's leaders could come to a resolution.
"We don't need SADC," Tsvangirai said. "We can do this on our own."
Tsvangirai's party has objected to Mugabe's appointment of loyalists as the central bank governor and the attorney general, the arrests of and attacks on independent rights activists and MDC lawmakers, and the seizures of white-owned farms.
The MDC also accuses Mugabe allies of blocking democratic and media reforms.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
