Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai warned on Friday that Zimbabwe could slide back to “dark days” of violence unless regional leaders help save the power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai has toured the region to meet with leaders of Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia about the growing political tensions, after he last week called for a “divorce” in the unity government, with elections under a regional roadmap.
“Unless the region nips the tension in the bud, we could easily slide back to the dark days of 2008, a development that is not welcome to any Zimbabwean across the political divide,” Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare.
The security organ of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which brokered the power-sharing pact, is set to meet in Zambia on March 31 with Zimbabwe high on the agenda.
‘Renewed sense of siege mood’
Tsvangirai said he told SADC leaders of “the renewed sense of siege mood in the country, arbitrary arrests, crackdown on democratic forces and the culture of impunity.”
“I also impressed upon them that the country risks sliding back to 2008 with the consequent chaos and instability.”
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a unity government two years ago in a bid to end political violence and to ensure basic rights, such as freedom of speech and assembly.
But last week Tsvangirai’s Energy Minister, Elton Mangoma, was charged with abuse of office over a fuel purchase, while the Supreme Court nullified the election of his party’s chairperson as parliamentary speaker.
Last month, Mugabe who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, said polls should be held as soon as possible.
South African President Jacob Zuma, the region’s mediator in Zimbabwe, is sending in a team of negotiators next week to assess the situation, his office said Friday. — AFP