Tsvangirai offers "cohabitation" with Mugabe

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday his party would "cohabitate" with President Robert Mugabe in the interests of the country's stability if it won upcoming legislative elections.

Tsvangirai, 48, who arrived in South Africa on a private visit to brief political and business leaders, said at a news conference that if his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a majority in parliament, "we will not engage in any (behaviour) that is going to destabilise the country. If it means cohabiting with him as president, we as a majority party in parliament, will do so.

"We hope to interact. Whatever negotiations take place after the elections must primarily take into consideration the stability of the country," he said. But, the former trade union leader added, "the reality of the situation is that when a party leader loses the mandate of the people he has no legitimacy to continue. I hope that will be the preoccupation of Mugabe."

He said that if his party won the necessary two-thirds majority in parliament, "we are likely to bring forward the (presidential) elections by constitutional amendment" from the current date of 2002. Zimbabwe's legislative elections are due next month, but there is speculation that due to administrative obstacles they may be delayed until later in the year.

Tsvangirai, blaming Mugabe, 76, for Zimbabwe's current political tensions, said he will call on South Africa to play a more active role in the defence of democracy in its own national interest, and that of the region.

"South Africa cannot stand by and watch Zimbabwe go down in flames ... It is very difficult to define what South Africa can do, except to emphasise South Africa must be seen to engage Mugabe to go down the democratic route," he said. "That influence must leave no doubt in the minds of the Zimbabwean
government that South Africa won't watch Zimbabwe go down the drain."

On the crisis surrounding land redistribution in which government supporters have seized white-owned commercial farms, the former mine worker said: "No one argues about land reform, but it must be done in an orderly fashion and I think (Mugabe) is throwing that out of the window for the sake of holding
on to power."

Tsvangirai said the issue was not about a lack of land to redistribute to impoverished communal farmers, but the procedures and funding for an effective programme that empowers rural Zimbabweans. "We must create an all-stakeholders land commission to assess where the (spare) land is, distribute it, and make sure that those who need the land have access."