JOHANNESBURG – Arthur Mutambara says he fully supports Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s quest to control the finance and home affairs portfolios and has vowed never to join any government in which his rival is excluded.

The robotics professor, who heads a formation of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, which, with its 10 seats, holds the balance of power in Zimbabwe’s hung Parliament, furiously rejected accusations that he had often sided with Mugabe in power-sharing negotiations to the detriment of the opposition’s cause.

Mutambara said in an interview yesterday that he was driven by nothing else but the national interest only.

He dispelled ever-swelling rumours that if the negotiations to give effect to a unity government pact signed on September 15 failed, he would join Mugabe in a government without Tsvangirai.

Mutambara was designated one of two deputy prime ministers in the September 15 deal. He vowed never to be part of any deal in which Tsvangirai was excluded even though he has differed with him on issues.

“If Mugabe has any illusion that he can set up a government unilaterally, then we have news for him. We won’t be part of that government and we will call for its total condemnation and complete isolation of any such criminal government,” charged the firebrand opposition leader.

Mutambara said he would only participate in a tripartite “three way understanding” that also included Tsvangirai.

Mutambara said he had been fighting with Tsvangirai in the negotiations, contrary to perceptions that he wasn’t.

“I am fighting in Morgan’s corner. I am asking for finance and home affairs to go to Morgan,” said Mutambara, refuting claims that he was in fact supporting Mugabe’s claims to those ministries.

But he also warned that he would not allow Tsvangirai to hold Zimbabwe to ransom and would attack him if he became unreasonable.

“Tsvangirai must put national interests before partisan interests. I am not his poodle. If he makes un-strategic decisions, I will attack him but I have been in his corner in these negotiations,” said Mutambara.

Mutambara said he had indeed proposed a compromise in which home affairs would rotate with Tsvangirai’s nominee taking the position for the first six months after disputes over that ministry had stalled negotiations last week. 

At first Tsvangirai was happy to take that route as long as he was given the option of taking the first six months. But Mutambara said Tsvangirai had later changed his position.

Mutambara said he had gone ballistic against Mugabe when the latter sought exclusive control of the same home affairs ministry, adding that he fully supported Tsvangirai’s claims to those two critical ministries but thought it would help if Tsvangirai remained consistent with his positions in the talks as flip flopping does not help anyone’s cause.

He also came out in strong defence of Tsvangirai after he was refused a passport to travel to Swaziland yesterday.

Mutambara said he had appeared before the leaders of Swaziland, Angola, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa and declared that any meeting on Zimbabwe was null and void without Tsvangirai. Mugabe was also in the meeting.

He dismissed as “childish” and “trivial” the decision to withhold Tsvangirai’s passport.

“I have told Mugabe not to allow trivial matters to come in the way of this dialogue . . . You cannot deny the Prime Minister of a country a passport and restrict him to ETDs. That is a huge insult,” said Mutambara, adding that SADC should rise to the occasion and stand up to Mugabe.

“Morgan must travel on a full passport, and not an ETD (emergency travel document).”

After declaring that there would be no troika without Tsvangirai, Mutambara said he had been told by King Mswati of Swaziland that a jet had been sent to collect Tsvangirai from Zimbabwe and that plans were underway to issue him with a passport.

He said he would wait in Swaziland for Tsvangirai’s arrival to begin any meetings. The SADC troika was nevertheless postponed to a later date last night after Tsvangirai declined to attend.

Mutambara’s remarks effectively close any speculation that he might end up going into bed with Mugabe if the talks collapse. – ZimOnline