Zimbabwe’s Tsvangirai Rallies Regional Leaders

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has embarked on a regional tour to brief leaders of the Southern African Development Conference (SADC) on recent political developments that have pitted him against President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai is currently in South Africa, where he is expected to brief President Jacob Zuma on the political situation in Zimbabwe.

He has already visited Mozambique and is expected to proceed for state visits to other southern African states.

Tsvangirai’s tour comes just a few days after he announced he was suspending cooperation with President Mugabe, adding however that his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was not formally exiting from the unity government.

Speaking to the BBC, an MDC legislator, Gordon Moyo, said the tour was aimed at rallying the regional leaders to pressure Mugabe to honour the political agreement that led to the creation of the unity government after a disputed presidential election in 2008.

Professor John Makube of Zimbabwe University said regional leaders believed to have been in favour of Mugabe have the ability to push for the implementation of the unity agreement since they participated in drafting and brokering peace.

Makube also warned that a withdrawal by both Mugabe and Tsvangirai would paralyze government operations and no change would subsequently be achieved in Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai is also expected to visit Botswana, Angola and possibly the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The European Union has meanwhile promised to resume aid to Zimbabwe upon the resolution of the current political row, after years of international isolation that led to the country’s worst humanitarian crisis. [ER]