Tsvangirai in London – roadmap to legitimacy

ally here over the weekend.
Addressing hundreds of enthusiastic supporters as part of his overseas tour, Tsvangirai sent out an urgent call to exiles to get involved in contributing to the struggle.
“Zimbabwe is not going to be free until Zimbabweans take the view that they are their own liberators,” he said. “If you want freedom, fight for it, there is nothing as precious as freedom.”
Tsvangirai assured supporters that the MDC was “still alive” and an essential part of the struggle in Zimbabwe. He dismissed claims that the recent split had weakened the party, saying it had allowed the MDC to re-evaluate how they should continue the fight against the Mugabe regime.
He used the landslide victory in Budiriro as an example of the extensive grassroots support still enjoyed by the party.
“The test is when Mugabe organises a rally at 5 o’clock on Friday and he closes the schools and drives everyone to the rally and the next day they vote against him. The people have no means of survival, but they still have hope in the MDC,” he said.
The MDC’s main aim was to get rid of the Mugabe regime through the “roadmap to legitimacy” plan.
“It’s simple,” he said, “Mugabe must be forced to the negotiating table, then there must be free and fair elections before Zimbabwe is invited back to the family of nations.” He reiterated that the MDC is a peaceful movement but warned that the people of Zimbabwe would take to the streets to get rid of Mugabe and pledged that the MDC leadership would be on the frontline.
Flanked by secretary general Tendai Biti, Grace Kwinjeh, (international affairs and deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma, the MDC president also addressed some of the concerns raised by diasporans.
He assured exiles that he was committed to rooting out all forms of corruption within the party and governmentm saying that the MDC aimed to be transparent. “If we fail to deal with corruption then we will have failed to deal with one of the cancers that plague Africa.”
He said he would ensure that all diasporans had an equal right to vote in free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. He encouraged them to return to the country to help with the rebuilding of the infrastructure, saying all would be welcome, no matter what their citizenship status was.
“If you are born a Zimbabwean you have the right to be a citizen of Zimbabwe. If you decide to have 10 citizenships it is not the problem of the state. I am sure that your loyalty to your country cannot be conditioned by a piece of paper,” he said.