News / Africa
Tsvangirai meets Namibian President over troubled GNU
29 Mar 2011 at 11:26hrs | Views
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met Monday with Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, pressing his grievances over Zimbabwe's troubled power-sharing deal ahead of a key regional meeting.
Tsvangirai, whose tense coalition with long-time President Robert Mugabe will feature at a meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) security organ Thursday, said Pohamba told him the power-sharing deal should remain in place until a referendum on a new constitution.
"I briefed President Pohamba ... on the discord in Zimbabwe and the drafting of the constitution that will lead to a referendum and elections," Tsvangirai told journalists after the hour-long talks in the Namibian capital Windhoek.
"President Pohamba emphasised that there is a need to preserve Zimbabwe's inclusive government, and I think he wishes to keep the coalition in place until the referendum and credible elections for a new government."
Zimbabwe's two-year-old power-sharing pact, formed to halt an economic tailspin and stop a wave of violence around the country's disputed 2008 elections, is facing collapse as Tsvangirai's MDC party complains of an intensifying clampdown by forces loyal to Mugabe's ZANU-PF.
Tsvangirai's energy minister, Elton Mangoma, was arrested last week for the second time in a month on accusations of irregularities in a decision to cancel an equipment contract.
His earlier arrest drew an angry reaction from Tsvangirai, who said it was time for a "divorce" in the coalition government.
Tsvangirai's party said they feared more ministers would be arrested ahead of a vote Tuesday for a new speaker of parliament, after the supreme court invalidated the election of top Tsvangirai ally Lovemore Moyo.
Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told journalists the MDC was facing a crackdown by a "third force outside government".
"For the past three weeks MDC (members) could not hold public meetings, although there is no ban on such meetings. Cabinet agreed that there will be no ban on MDC meetings, yet the police barred the meetings," he said.
Tamborenyoka also called on regional leaders to intervene in the country's political stalemate.
"We need a clear election roadmap from SADC, since SADC brought about the coalition government and SADC needs to play a more active role", he said.
After meeting Pohamba, who is currently the chair of the 15-member SADC, Tsvangirai plans to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania ahead of Thursday's meeting, which he said he would attend.
Tsvangirai, whose tense coalition with long-time President Robert Mugabe will feature at a meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) security organ Thursday, said Pohamba told him the power-sharing deal should remain in place until a referendum on a new constitution.
"I briefed President Pohamba ... on the discord in Zimbabwe and the drafting of the constitution that will lead to a referendum and elections," Tsvangirai told journalists after the hour-long talks in the Namibian capital Windhoek.
"President Pohamba emphasised that there is a need to preserve Zimbabwe's inclusive government, and I think he wishes to keep the coalition in place until the referendum and credible elections for a new government."
Zimbabwe's two-year-old power-sharing pact, formed to halt an economic tailspin and stop a wave of violence around the country's disputed 2008 elections, is facing collapse as Tsvangirai's MDC party complains of an intensifying clampdown by forces loyal to Mugabe's ZANU-PF.
Tsvangirai's energy minister, Elton Mangoma, was arrested last week for the second time in a month on accusations of irregularities in a decision to cancel an equipment contract.
His earlier arrest drew an angry reaction from Tsvangirai, who said it was time for a "divorce" in the coalition government.
Tsvangirai's party said they feared more ministers would be arrested ahead of a vote Tuesday for a new speaker of parliament, after the supreme court invalidated the election of top Tsvangirai ally Lovemore Moyo.
Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told journalists the MDC was facing a crackdown by a "third force outside government".
"For the past three weeks MDC (members) could not hold public meetings, although there is no ban on such meetings. Cabinet agreed that there will be no ban on MDC meetings, yet the police barred the meetings," he said.
Tamborenyoka also called on regional leaders to intervene in the country's political stalemate.
"We need a clear election roadmap from SADC, since SADC brought about the coalition government and SADC needs to play a more active role", he said.
After meeting Pohamba, who is currently the chair of the 15-member SADC, Tsvangirai plans to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania ahead of Thursday's meeting, which he said he would attend.
Source - AFP
