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'West has abandoned Tsvangirai'
21 Feb 2015 at 17:57hrs | Views
An American think tank says the West has abandoned Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) founding president Morgan Tsvangirai following a dismal performance in the unity government and the 2013 national elections.
In an interview, senior policy analyst Marion Tupy of the Washington-based Cato Institute for Global Liberty and Prosperity said Tsvangirai the West bet on a wrong horse and it's now time for Zimbabweans to look for an alternative opposition leader.
"It was the expectation that after four or five years in a power sharing government the MDC will be rewarded for good governance and for the improvements that Zimbabwe has accomplished.
"… But the MDC ministers and Tsvangirai himself turned out be less impressive than people hoped, certainly Tsvangirai's life and failings and it turned out that Mugabe and his Zanu still enjoy quite a bit of support within the Zimbabwean electorate."
It was a mistake for the MDC to go into the unity government as they did not achieve their goal since they were outmaneuvered by President Robert Mugabe.
As a result, Tupy said Tsvangirai appears to have now run out of steam and the West has dumped him though the initial support was not based on regime change and grabbing Zimbabwe's wealth.
"It's true that the West has abandoned Morgan Tsvangirai its very sad but it's very true. It's like putting your money on a horse in a race hoping that he wins and then if he fails you may do it a couple of times but ultimately you decide that that person was not worth the investment," said.
Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka and MDC-T spokesman Obert Gutu were not reachable for comment on their mobile phones as they were not responding to calls.
Interview With Marion Tupy of Cato Institute for Global Liberty and Prosperity
In an interview, senior policy analyst Marion Tupy of the Washington-based Cato Institute for Global Liberty and Prosperity said Tsvangirai the West bet on a wrong horse and it's now time for Zimbabweans to look for an alternative opposition leader.
"It was the expectation that after four or five years in a power sharing government the MDC will be rewarded for good governance and for the improvements that Zimbabwe has accomplished.
"… But the MDC ministers and Tsvangirai himself turned out be less impressive than people hoped, certainly Tsvangirai's life and failings and it turned out that Mugabe and his Zanu still enjoy quite a bit of support within the Zimbabwean electorate."
It was a mistake for the MDC to go into the unity government as they did not achieve their goal since they were outmaneuvered by President Robert Mugabe.
"It's true that the West has abandoned Morgan Tsvangirai its very sad but it's very true. It's like putting your money on a horse in a race hoping that he wins and then if he fails you may do it a couple of times but ultimately you decide that that person was not worth the investment," said.
Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka and MDC-T spokesman Obert Gutu were not reachable for comment on their mobile phones as they were not responding to calls.
Interview With Marion Tupy of Cato Institute for Global Liberty and Prosperity
Source - voa
