‘Tsvangirai begs for VP post’
Herald Reporters
MDC faction leader Morgan Tsvangirai asked Zanu-PF to accommodate him as one of the Vice Presidents in a government of national unity after being told by his advisors that a possible run-off with President Mugabe for the top job was not in his best interests, The Herald can reveal.
This comes in the wake of indications that former United Nations secretary-general Mr Kofi Annan has been trying to contact Zimbabwean authorities over a power-sharing deal after being prompted to do so by "external forces keen to see Tsvangirai rule the country".
Sources said yesterday that the opposition leader last week sent Mr Ian Makone, Mr Elton Mangoma and Mr Joe Mtizwa to negotiate with Zanu-PF officials — Cdes Nicholas Goche and Patrick Chinamasa — over the possibility of averting a run-off and make Tsvangirai one of the country’s two Vice Presidents.
According to the sources, Mr Mtizwa — the chief executive of Delta Beverages which is partly owned by SABMiller which was implicated in Simba Makoni’s international fund-raising campaign — initially approached Cde Goche by himself but the Zanu-PF Politburo member refused to entertain him.
"He (Cde Goche) told Mtizwa, ‘I don’t know you as an MDC person, I know you as an ordinary businessperson. So unless you have an official post in the MDC, I cannot talk to you about this. If the MDC wants anything from us they should approach us officially.’
"Mtizwa then went and came back with Makone and Mangoma and they met Cdes Goche and Chinamasa mid-last week. Their proposal was that Tsvangirai be installed as one of the two Vice Presidents and they also wanted a number of ministerial posts reserved for them and Zanu-PF’s Politburo meeting on Friday was held against this background.
"The three emissaries were told that this was a non-starter and Zanu-PF would not stomach the idea of Tsvangirai in the Presidium.
"They were told that Zanu-PF was ready for a run-off and this is what has got Tsvangirai worried," a source said.
They added that the pro-opposition Zimbabwe Election Support Network has since advised Tsvangirai that he had failed to avoid a run-off and this had prompted his advisors to come up with a strategy to "subvert democratic, legal and electoral processes as a matter of urgency".
The sources said Tsvangirai’s strategy to avert a run-off was based on three pillars — enticing President Mugabe into retirement through the efforts of people like Mr Annan; engineering a government of national unity; and the threat of extended sanctions and even a military invasion led by the United States.
"Tsvangirai made an appeal over the weekend for the UN to apply pressure on President Mugabe when it became clear that Zanu-PF was not amenable to making him a Vice President. The UN secretariat has refused to be drawn into Zimbabwe’s politics on Tsvangirai’s terms, but Annan has already taken a position supportive of the MDC’s demands.
"Since then, he has been trying to contact President Mugabe to engineer a coalition government like he did in Kenya. But it seems people have overlooked the fact that Zimbabwe is nothing like Kenya. As we speak, it is highly unlikely that President Mugabe has entertained Annan’s approaches," a source explained.
President Mugabe’s spokesman, Cde George Charamba, yesterday refused to be drawn into making a comment.
"I am not given to discussing with the media confidential contacts involving the President," he said.
The MDC-Tsvangirai strategy suggests that the opposition is aware that it has not won the presidential polls and would like to find a way of avoiding a run-off.
Over the weekend, Tsvangirai released a statement in which he tacitly called on the US to invade Zimbabwe in the same way it led military assaults on Afghanistan and Iraq, knowing that such an occurrence would result in him becoming head of state without going through a democratic process.
He said: "How can global leaders espouse the values of democracy yet when they are being challenged fail to open their mouths? Why is it that a supposed ‘war on terror’ ignores the very real terror of broken minds and mangled bodies that lie along the trail left by (President) Mugabe?"
Tsvangirai also revealed that he supported sanctions against Zimbabwe and sought an extension of the current economic embargo on the country as a means of installing him in State House.
"This is a time for strong action. We urge the International Monetary Fund at its meeting this week, to withhold the £1 billion of aid to Zimbabwe unless the defeated ex-President accepts the election results in full and hands over the reins of power," he said.
The opposition leader also tried to entice President Mugabe to hand over power to him outside of a run-off by saying an MDC government would grant him security.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai was in South Africa at the weekend where he met African National Congress president Mr Jacob Zuma and government officials in that country.
Tsvangirai, who returned home yesterday after a two-day visit, held private talks with Mr Zuma and Minister of Local Government Mr Sydney Mufamadi on the situation in the country.
Mr Mufamadi was one of the South African officials in President Thabo Mbeki’s team that facilitated the Sadc-initiated talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC.
Addressing journalists at Harvest House in Harare yesterday, MDC Tsvangirai secretary-general Tendai Biti confirmed the meetings but declined to give details on the nature of the discussions Tsvangirai had with ANC officials.
"Yes, our president was in South Africa. He met Mr Zuma and also held meetings with government officials like Mr Mufamadi. These are the only two officials that I am authorised to comment on. He has also been in constant touch with President Thabo Mbeki," said Biti.
He expressed his party’s concern at the delay by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in announcing the presidential election results.
Biti claimed that ZEC had disbanded the National Command Centre, saying chief election agents had since been withdrawn from the centre.
But ZEC deputy chief elections officer Mr Utoile Silaigwana dismissed the claims.
"I am hearing that for the first time. Our National Command Centre is still in operation," said Mr Silaigwana last night.
MDC faction leader Morgan Tsvangirai asked Zanu-PF to accommodate him as one of the Vice Presidents in a government of national unity after being told by his advisors that a possible run-off with President Mugabe for the top job was not in his best interests, The Herald can reveal.
This comes in the wake of indications that former United Nations secretary-general Mr Kofi Annan has been trying to contact Zimbabwean authorities over a power-sharing deal after being prompted to do so by "external forces keen to see Tsvangirai rule the country".
Sources said yesterday that the opposition leader last week sent Mr Ian Makone, Mr Elton Mangoma and Mr Joe Mtizwa to negotiate with Zanu-PF officials — Cdes Nicholas Goche and Patrick Chinamasa — over the possibility of averting a run-off and make Tsvangirai one of the country’s two Vice Presidents.
According to the sources, Mr Mtizwa — the chief executive of Delta Beverages which is partly owned by SABMiller which was implicated in Simba Makoni’s international fund-raising campaign — initially approached Cde Goche by himself but the Zanu-PF Politburo member refused to entertain him.
"He (Cde Goche) told Mtizwa, ‘I don’t know you as an MDC person, I know you as an ordinary businessperson. So unless you have an official post in the MDC, I cannot talk to you about this. If the MDC wants anything from us they should approach us officially.’
"Mtizwa then went and came back with Makone and Mangoma and they met Cdes Goche and Chinamasa mid-last week. Their proposal was that Tsvangirai be installed as one of the two Vice Presidents and they also wanted a number of ministerial posts reserved for them and Zanu-PF’s Politburo meeting on Friday was held against this background.
"The three emissaries were told that this was a non-starter and Zanu-PF would not stomach the idea of Tsvangirai in the Presidium.
"They were told that Zanu-PF was ready for a run-off and this is what has got Tsvangirai worried," a source said.
They added that the pro-opposition Zimbabwe Election Support Network has since advised Tsvangirai that he had failed to avoid a run-off and this had prompted his advisors to come up with a strategy to "subvert democratic, legal and electoral processes as a matter of urgency".
The sources said Tsvangirai’s strategy to avert a run-off was based on three pillars — enticing President Mugabe into retirement through the efforts of people like Mr Annan; engineering a government of national unity; and the threat of extended sanctions and even a military invasion led by the United States.
"Tsvangirai made an appeal over the weekend for the UN to apply pressure on President Mugabe when it became clear that Zanu-PF was not amenable to making him a Vice President. The UN secretariat has refused to be drawn into Zimbabwe’s politics on Tsvangirai’s terms, but Annan has already taken a position supportive of the MDC’s demands.
"Since then, he has been trying to contact President Mugabe to engineer a coalition government like he did in Kenya. But it seems people have overlooked the fact that Zimbabwe is nothing like Kenya. As we speak, it is highly unlikely that President Mugabe has entertained Annan’s approaches," a source explained.
President Mugabe’s spokesman, Cde George Charamba, yesterday refused to be drawn into making a comment.
"I am not given to discussing with the media confidential contacts involving the President," he said.
The MDC-Tsvangirai strategy suggests that the opposition is aware that it has not won the presidential polls and would like to find a way of avoiding a run-off.
Over the weekend, Tsvangirai released a statement in which he tacitly called on the US to invade Zimbabwe in the same way it led military assaults on Afghanistan and Iraq, knowing that such an occurrence would result in him becoming head of state without going through a democratic process.
He said: "How can global leaders espouse the values of democracy yet when they are being challenged fail to open their mouths? Why is it that a supposed ‘war on terror’ ignores the very real terror of broken minds and mangled bodies that lie along the trail left by (President) Mugabe?"
Tsvangirai also revealed that he supported sanctions against Zimbabwe and sought an extension of the current economic embargo on the country as a means of installing him in State House.
"This is a time for strong action. We urge the International Monetary Fund at its meeting this week, to withhold the £1 billion of aid to Zimbabwe unless the defeated ex-President accepts the election results in full and hands over the reins of power," he said.
The opposition leader also tried to entice President Mugabe to hand over power to him outside of a run-off by saying an MDC government would grant him security.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai was in South Africa at the weekend where he met African National Congress president Mr Jacob Zuma and government officials in that country.
Tsvangirai, who returned home yesterday after a two-day visit, held private talks with Mr Zuma and Minister of Local Government Mr Sydney Mufamadi on the situation in the country.
Mr Mufamadi was one of the South African officials in President Thabo Mbeki’s team that facilitated the Sadc-initiated talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC.
Addressing journalists at Harvest House in Harare yesterday, MDC Tsvangirai secretary-general Tendai Biti confirmed the meetings but declined to give details on the nature of the discussions Tsvangirai had with ANC officials.
"Yes, our president was in South Africa. He met Mr Zuma and also held meetings with government officials like Mr Mufamadi. These are the only two officials that I am authorised to comment on. He has also been in constant touch with President Thabo Mbeki," said Biti.
He expressed his party’s concern at the delay by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in announcing the presidential election results.
Biti claimed that ZEC had disbanded the National Command Centre, saying chief election agents had since been withdrawn from the centre.
But ZEC deputy chief elections officer Mr Utoile Silaigwana dismissed the claims.
"I am hearing that for the first time. Our National Command Centre is still in operation," said Mr Silaigwana last night.
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