Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Will Not Join Unity Government
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008; 10:22 AM
HARARE, Zimbabwe, July 2--Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced Wednesday that he would not join a unity government as a junior partner to President Robert Mugabe, who he has accused of beating, torturing and murdering his way to re-election last week.
The African Union on Tuesday urged the two sides to immediately begin negotiations with the goal of sharing power, and numerous news reports have said that such talks already have begun.
Yet Tsvangirai, speaking at his home in Harare, the capital, said there have been no meaningful discussions, and none will begin until the African Union appoints a new mediator to oversee the process. His party has repeatedly said that South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was appointed by regional leaders to negotiate a resolution to Zimbabwe's long-standing political stalemate, favors Mugabe.
Without a new mediation team, Tsvangirai said, his party would boycott any discussions with Mugabe's regime.
"The crisis in Zimbabwe requires urgent action," he said. "The violence, intimidation, hunger and suffering must be addressed as soon as possible. Zimbabweans cannot afford any more confusion or delays. Zimbabweans can no longer afford words that are not reinforced by actions."
The March 29 election and June 27 runoff followed more than a year of negotiations between the ruling party and the opposition. And while the talks made some progress, the runoff election featured some of the most widespread and severe state-sponsored political violence in 20 years.
Tsvangirai got more votes than Mugabe in the first round, but boycotted the second round in June as his party was devastated by the violence and false arrests. Tsvangirai said the March results, rather than the runoff, should be the basis for all negotiations, and any unified government should be part of a broader transition toward his party taking control of the government.
He also said that there have been nine more deaths of party activists since Friday's election. That brings the reported death toll from the campaign to at least 95.
