Zimbabwe power-share plea

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday said a national unity government was “the only way out” of Zimbabwe’s crises and urged the international community to support it.

Addressing more than 7,000 supporters in Gweru town, 220kmsouth of the capital Harare, Tsvangirai appealed to the international community to help the nation and accept its citizens’ right to chose their own government.

“The international community should help us but accept that Zimbabweans have a right to choose and they have decided that the inclusive government is the only way out,” he said at celebrations for the 10th anniversary of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

“Please support us,” he said, adding that President Robert Mugabe and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara were committed to making the transitional power-sharing government work.

He told his supporters, including ministers and parliamentarians that the MDC would not be “swallowed” up by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party.

Tsvangirai, Mugabe’s long-time rival, took office as prime minister on February 11. Cabinet ministers were sworn in two days later to complete the process of forming a unity government that must haul the nation out of political, health and economic crises.