Ruling party to form next government

President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party will form the next government in Zimbabwe whatever the outcome of the weekend’s parliamentary elections, a senior government official said. John Nkomo, local government minister and national chairman of the ruling party, told a news conference on Sunday: “We wish to make it clear that the media reports suggesting that these elections might lead to a change of government are more than wild.” He said that although the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) might get some seats in the next parliament, no single party had a hope of getting anywhere near the two-thirds majority needed in the 150-seat house to enable constitutional changes. “In terms of the constitution, ZANU-PF will most definitely form the next government whatever the results of the legislative election,” Nkomo said. “Let’s get it clear, President Mugabe will form the next government and this is something that has been deliberately ignored or misrepresented by the media.” Diplomats told IRIN that the timing of his announcement was a “trump card” the government has held should the vote swing against Mugabe who has been in power for 20 years since independence from Britain in 1980. Nkomo stressed that under the terms of the constitution, President Mugabe was not required to include members of the opposition in his new cabinet - even if the MDC emerged as the majority party. He said it was likely there would be a sufficient number of ZANU-PF parliamentarians from whom Mugabe would be able to select a new government. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC which has given the government the most serious challenge it has yet faced in an election, told reporters that negotiations would have to be considered if his party won the election: “Whether that cabinet or that government will function with a parliament controlled by the opposition - that’s where negotiations have to be considered.” He described Nkomo’s statement as an “admission of defeat”. With the first results expected later on Monday, Tsvangirai said that if a new government were formed regardless of the outcome of the election, it would mean Mugabe was ruling by decree. Brian Kagoro, the spokesman of the National Constitutional Assembly pressure group and a constitutional law expert, described Nkomo’s remarks as “naïve and unpatriotic”. In comments carried by the independent ‘Daily News’ on Monday, he said Mugabe would find it difficult to deal with a parliament in which the opposition held a majority.