MDC-T saved Zanu-PF from collapse, says Tsvangirai

Former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has claimed that his MDC-T party helped Zanu-PF survive in 2008 by agreeing to be part of the inclusive government.

Tsvangirai was responding to questions whether he thought it was the right time to engage Zanu-PF and if you are invited for talks, will you compromise like you did then?

"In 2008, we put people first before even our own political considerations. We believed in the right of transition, but unfortunately we were disappointed in that Mugabe was not sincere.

"We helped the people, but we also helped Zanu-PF survive. Now we can't go into a situation where we will help rescue Zanu-PF again.

"It is Zanu-PF that has to understand that you invite people to help you, but you say you go it alone, but you know you can't go anywhere," he said in excerpts of the interview gleaned from NewsDay.

He added "So when you invite us, first and foremost, we are not going to reject any discussion, but it must be based on principle and the principle is we have to implement reforms and once all the reforms are there, we can then talk of an election that has to produce a government that has a full mandate nationally and internationally."