Tsvangirai Calls for Fresh Polls if Talks Fail

Zimbabwean Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a fresh presidential election should the currently deadlocked power sharing talks fail to resolve the country’s political crisis. Speaking to an estimated 6,000 supporters at a rally to commemorate the ninth anniversary of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe’s third city of Gweru, Tsvangirai said a new poll supervised by international observers would clear the contention between him and President Robert Mugabe. Last month, Tsvangirai refused to sign a power sharing deal that would have made him prime minister under Mugabe, saying he had not been given substantial executive power. [PE]