Tsvangirai wants peaceful demos against Zanu-PF

MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has urged party supporters to gear up for a "peaceful confrontation" with the Zanu-PF-led government saying change will never come on a silver platter.

Tsvangirai told party supporters in Gweru on Sunday that people should be seen to be active if they yearned for political and economic transformation.

"You can never expect change to come on a silver platter. You should be active. The solution to our problems will come through peaceful expression of our discontent," Tsvangirai said.

Tsvangirai said he beat President Robert Mugabe in previous elections, but the results were rigged yet he did not call for the violent removal of the "dictator" as he did not believe in bloodshed.

He, however, said people should be prepared to register their disgruntlement with the current government through peaceful means.

"I will lead while you follow behind," he said.

Tsvangirai said Zanu-PF should swallow its pride and admit that it had failed to run the economy and come to the negotiating table.

"We are not saying we want another Government of National Unity, no; but they should just admit their failures and prepare to negotiate with the people whose electoral victory they stole," Tsvangirai said.

The party's prodigal son Job Sikhala, who returned to the stable recently, said Mugabe had to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.

Sikhala said dictators did not understand soft language.

"Now is the time to confront the dictator and the dictator understands only one language; the language of confrontation," Sikhala charged.

Previous attempts to demonstrate against the government have been met with brute force by the country's security forces.