SW Radio Africa (London)
Tererai Karimakwenda
28 April 2008
Opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leaders of the two MDC formations, held a press conference in South Africa on Monday where they announced that they would be joining forces to ensure the MDC holds the majority in parliament. This would effectively make ZANU-PF the opposition in parliament for the first time in their history.
Speaking at the press conference in Johannesburg, Tsvangirai said: "Mugabe should concede that he cannot be president without controlling the parliament." The MDC has been split since 2005 over a dispute regarding the Senate, but this agreement to support each other in parliament now gives the opposition parties power over ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe.
The news came after the Zimbabwe Election Commission confirmed that after the recount the opposition had retained the majority of parliamentary seats.
The ZEC has been recounting ballots in 23 constituencies that were disputed by ZANU-PF. Recounts in 18 of the 23 constituencies confirmed that the MDC had won all 18 seats. ZANU-PF needed to reverse results in 9 of them in order to take back majority status.
The partial recount of the disputed presidential election has been completed and verification of the results by the candidates will start on Tuesday, an election official said on Monday.
The verification of results by presidential candidates could take up to a week, electoral officials have said.
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Of late President Mwanawasa has been labelled as a puppet of the west becoz he has castigated the Zim govt over the Chinese ship.here is a caption from the state sponsered daily paper the Herald......... President Levy Mwana-wepi (where from) (Mwanawasa) what have you fallen for, to demonstrate such zeal over a Chinese ship with Zimbabwe’s arms, to ignore Sadc protocol and traditional procedures in convening such a summit on Zimbabwe’s elections herald
ZANU-PF should have nothing to worry about.Going by Kenyan example, MDC coalision will soon break down as infighting is bound to occur. Reason? As they haggle on who will be in the best position to eat the largest state potatoe.Going by the Kenyan example,none of these guys has Zimbawen interests at heart.It is all rhetorics! Soon,the citizens will be hard put to tell the difference between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara.Meanwhile, "friends of Zimbabwe" ,in the form of EU,US and China will land in Zimbabwe like vultures to give all kinds of partisan advice.Some will even advise that Zimbabwe is better off with the white farmers coming back to reclaim their "lost land". Soon, stagemanaged tribal clashes will appear from nowhere as the new indigenous ownwers of the grabbed white farmers' land resist eviction. Zimbabwe will then be on fire! More miserable refugees to neighbouring countries.The citizens left behind will be worse off!Who do you think will come to put off the fires and at what cost?Your guess is as good as mine. Zimbamwens SHOULD and MUST demand a workable and genuine road map to economic recovery from the Tsvangirais of this world before they are duped, like the Kenyans were,with sweet and empty self-serving rhetorics.
What forces can join repelling like poles of a magnet? The electorate needed one voice on the harmonized elections and you gave us three factions. Tsvangirai and Mutambara are yet to be accepted by the totality of us through the ballot. Singing and plotting state house residence is not what we want now; we need immediate lifting of sanctions and removing Mugabe thieves from strategic government positions. Talk government, talk unity, talk anti-sanctions, talk anticorruption and talk projects for the country. What is your immediate plan in removing hardship from the people? Today you join forces tomorrow you split them – we are not amused by your tango!