Mugabe to form government without opposition

ZIMBABWE: President Robert Mugabe’s party said yesterday it is prepared to form a government on its own if the opposition won’t join it — a move certain to anger the West.

Patrick Chinamasa, spokesman for Mugabe’s ZANU-PF Party, said the government should be sworn in on February 13 as proposed by regional leaders earlier in the day. He said his party would give the opposition a few more days to decide whether to join a unity government.

A government without the opposition would likely be condemned by the West — the EU on Monday added 62 individuals and companies to a blacklist freezing assets and barring travel to those who funnel money to prop up Mugabe and his clique.