No going back on Zimbabwe unity govt, says Tsvangirai

Tsvangirai formed a coalition government with old rival Mugabe lastFebruary, after months of wrangling over the power-sharing deal theysigned last September, in a bid to end years of political and economicupheaval in Zimbabwe.

Although some aspects of the agreement are yet to be concluded,Tsvangirai told thousands of supporters of his Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC) at a rally in Chinhoyi, 115 kilometres (72 miles) west ofHarare, that he was working well with Mugabe towards implementing thedeal.

"There’s no reverse on the inclusive government. There will be insults,but we will get there. We have one project, which is the inclusivegovernment. It has specific policies and specific targets, which is topull this country out of the quagmire," Tsvangirai said.

"We respect each other, although we may disagree. There’s nothingMugabe does without me approving and there is nothing I do without himapproving."

The MDC is still pushing for the finalisation of outstanding issues inthe power-sharing pact, including the senior government appointments topositions of central bank governor and attorney-general.

Tsvangirai has recently protested against Mugabe’s decision to strip anMDC minister of the key telecommunications portfolio, which he handedto an ally from his ZANU(PF) party.

The MDC leader repeated his calls for national reconciliation afteryears of political violence, which his party says cost the lives ofhundreds of supporters at the hands of Mugabe’s ZANU(PF) party.Tsvangirai himself was brutally assaulted while in police custody inMarch 2007.

"There is need for reconciliation, although we heavily attacked andinsulted each other," he said, to some jeers of disapproval from asection of supporters in the crowd.

"In 1980 (at independence) we said let’s forgive each other, we should not take the law into our own hands."

Tsvangirai also called for an end to recent farm invasions, sayingfurther disruptions of agricultural activity would hold back thegovernment’s efforts to rescue the battered economy.

"On the land issue, let us distinguish criminal activity and landreforms. We are not going to accept chaos on agric land, theres needfor peace and stability," Tsvangirai said.

Zimbabwe’s government has said it needs $8.3 billion in financial aidto fix its economy, but most donors have insisted on more reforms andthe full implementation of the political deal.

Years of hyperinflation and economic contraction, blamed on Mugabe’spolicies such as the seizure of land from white farmers to resettlelandless blacks, have left about half of the country’s populationsurviving on food aid.

Reuters