PRIME MINISTER TSVANGIRAI . . . I want to thank South Africa

HARARE – Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday saluted African leaders for what he said was their support for his MDC party’s push for full implementation of a power-sharing agreement signed with President Robert Mugabe last year.

If fully and strictly implemented the global political agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the Harare unity government could significantly whittle down Mugabe’s power and eventually trigger his exist from office.

But the 85-year old Mugabe backed by hardliners in his ZANU PF party and the military has so far resisted pressure to fully implement the GPA and continues to wield much of his old powers despite Tsvangirai’s ascendancy to the premiership.

Addressing party supporters at a rally at the Zimbabwe Grounds in the Harare suburb of Highfield, Tsvangirai thanked the South African government for committing itself to the resolution of Zimbabwe’s political crisis, saying the protracted crisis was also an issue of major concern to Pretoria.

“I want to thank South Africa. As I am talking, President (Jacob) Zuma is preparing to visit Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai said.

“I want to thank him. You continue being concerned about the plight of Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe’s instability is not a foreign policy issue to South Africa. It is a domestic issue because if there is instability in this country, we all go the shortest way, migrating to South Africa,” he told thousands of rain-socked supporters during a rally to mark his party’s 10th anniversary.

Tsvangirai, who last month boycotted Cabinet for almost three weeks in protest against Mugabe’s reluctance to fully implement the GPA, said he was happy that all the regional leaders he has approached since the boycott have indicated they want to see the agreement fully implemented.

The Prime Minister later agreed to end his Cabinet boycott after a summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s special defence and politics organ ordered Zimbabwe’s political leaders to engage in dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues from the GPA.

Commenting on his recent visit to Libya where he met President Muammar Gaddafi, Tsvangirai said the African Union (AU) chairman confided in him that he was well aware of the source of Zimbabwe’s problems saying he should be patient with Mugabe and should be sensitive to his old age.

“I also said to him that it does not help to confine solutions to SADC," he said. “I appealed to the AU to work together with SADC to help Zimbabwe come off its problems.”

The MDC leader also used the Sunday rally to defend his party’s decision to enter into the inclusive government with ZANU PF saying it was the only remaining option after an inconclusive election for political leaders to peacefully resolve the impasse and restore economic prosperity to the beleaguered country. – ZimOnline