Mugabe will go – Tsvangirai

Tsvangirai, addressing supporters at his party’s 3rd congress in Bulawayo on Friday, said there is no way the Zanu (PF) leader would cling onto power after his defeat has been confirmed.

“We are heartened by the brave stance of our colleagues in the region and by the facilitator, President Jacob Zuma,” Tsvangirai said.

“The region has given us reason to believe that SADC and the AU are ready to prevent the circus of 2008 that began in Kenya, was perfected in Zimbabwe but backfired with disastrous consequences in the Ivory Coast.

“This is the circus where losers of national elections are accommodated through power sharing arrangements.”

PMugabe was defeated by Tsvangirai in the historic March 2008 election, sparking an orgy of violence that ended with the formation of a power-sharing government two years ago.

Tsvangirai, who recently went on a highly successful regional tour to drum-up support from leaders who brokered the power-sharing deal, told his supporters that he had secured SADCs consensus on how to tackle an intransigent Mugabe. This time he will leave if he is defeated, he said.

“We applaud the position of SADC in ensuring that the process towards a free and fair election in Zimbabwe is fully supported, enhanced and consolidated,” Tsvangirai said.

“The AU and SADC, as the guarantors to the GPA, have shown that they are ready to nurse this process and to ensure that a credible government is put in place through a free and fair election.

“Thus, the next months are going to be critical in ensuring that we put in place the necessary mechanisms and building blocks to guarantee and protect the peoples vote and the peoples will.

“We are in the last mile of our democratic struggle to create a new Zimbabwe but we all know that the last kicks of a dying horse are vicious.”

The exchange between the Zanu (PF) leader and his erstwhile colleague has turned bitter in recent weeks, with a campaign of intimidation having heated up; each is trying to gain advantage, even if only psychologically.

The MDC leader seemed to have officially started his election campaign in Bulawayo, and all indicators show that he is bound to clinch a resounding victory in the next poll.

Tsvangirai said a new Zimbabwe beckons for every citizen.

“I can see that new Zimbabwe,” he said. “A new Zimbabwe where the people will be accorded the dignity and respect that they deserve. A Zimbabwe where people are free to choose; where the nation is living in harmony despite political, religious, tribal or racial diversity. A new Zimbabwe with functioning hospitals and well equipped schools.”

Tsvangirai promised to expand the economy, and said Zanu (PF) rule had brought the economy “to its knees.”

“Under this new programme, we envision a US$100 billion economy by 2030. Under that MDC government, we expect to achieve 10 percent annual growth rate in a peaceful country underpinned by constitutionalism and the rule of law,” the MDC leader said.