Mutambara Denies Ditching Tsvangirai

The leader of a splinter faction of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has denied having signed a deal with the country’s ruling party to isolate opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Speaking to journalists Wednesday, MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara denied such a move, which would transfer the opposition’s parliamentary majority to the President Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF. Speculation has been rife that Mugabe and Mutambara may have agreed to form a coalition government without Tsvangirai, who is increasingly holding out for a bigger stake of power. Currently, Tsvangirai's mainstream MDC faction holds 100 parliamentary seats while the ruling party has 99. Whichever side that acquires the support of the Mutambara group’s 10 seats effectively takes control of Parliament. [PE]