Robert Mugabe says he will call for fresh elections in a move to force through a stalled power-sharing deal. He hinted that this could be within the next 18 months.
Mugabe lashed the opposition Movement for Democratic for refusing to join a
national unity government in which he would remain as president.
Addressing his party supporters Mugabe showed he was in no mood to bow to MDC demands to hand over control of the key interior ministry, saying he
would call early elections if the two sides could not work together.
He said,”We agreed to give them (the MDC) 13 ministries while we share the ministry of home affairs, but if the arrangement fails to work in the next
one-and-a-half to two years, then we would go for elections,”
Zimbabwe has been in political limbo since elections in March when the
opposition wrested control of parliament from Mugabe’s party and MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai pushed Mugabe into second place in a presidential poll.
But Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off poll in June after dozens of his supporters were killed in attacks blamed on Mugabe supporters.
The two rivals signed an agreement in September to share power, but it has
yet to be implemented after fierce disagreements over who should control key ministries.
Tsvangirai says he wants to join a unity government but Mugabe must give up the interior ministry after keeping hold of the defence ministry.
Mugabe accused the MDC of trying to destroy the power-sharing agreement.
“The MDC should say no if they do not want to be part of the inclusive
government,”
