Tsvangirai urges Mugabe to treat him as equal partner

Zimbabwe Prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday appealed to President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party to treat him as equal partner in the power sharing government.

“If you want this inclusive government to deliver hope to the people of Zimbabwe, then you must regard the MDC as an equal partner not as a junior partner,” Tsvangirai told his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters at a rally in Chitungwiza, south-east of Harare.

“We are not a junior partner when we have the mandate of the people,” he said.

The rally was Tsvangirai’s first public address after calling off a three week boycott of the power sharing government with Mugabe’s camp, which he accused of being “dishonest and unreliable”.

The stand-off, which was resolved last Thursday in Mozambique by regional leaders, threatened to paralyse the fragile unity government formed in February this year.

“We have come a long way, both as a party and as prime minister, we will not be shaken,” Tsvangirai told a crowd of about 4 000 people.

Following the snub, Tsvangirai and his officials stayed away from three consecutive Cabinet meetings with partners from Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and the smaller faction of the MDC, lead by Arthur Mutambara.

One of the main reasons behind Tsvangirai’s decision was the detention of MDC treasurer Roy Bennett who will on Monday appear in court on terrorism charges.

Bennett, a former coffee farmer was first arrested in February, shortly after arriving from South Africa to take up the position of deputy agriculture minister.

He is currently out on bail and faces a death sentence if convicted.