Forget about returning to govt, Zanu-PF tells MDC

via Forget about returning to govt, Zanu-PF tells MDC | News24 2014-03-11

Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has rubbished former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s call for new inter-party talks, saying the MDC should forget about returning to government through negotiations, a report says.

According to a News Day report, Tsvangirai on Sunday said President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF government was likely to re-engage the MDC to rescue the country’s free-falling economy.

Tsvangirai said Mugabe had “no option than to call me to the negotiating table” for a new government of national unity as the MDC had a proven record of turning around the ailing economy.

But Zanu-PF’s spokesperson Rugare Gumbo dismissed Tsvangirai’s sentiments as “hogwash”, saying the MDC leader should forget about returning to government through negotiations, a New Zimbabwe.com report said.

Gumbo said conditions which necessitated the 2009 coalition deal which made Tsvangirai prime minister no longer existed.

Gumbo said it was important for Tsvangirai to note that there was a “huge difference between what happened in 2009 and 2013. This time Zanu-PF managed to win majority in parliament, while president Mugabe got over 51% vote”.

Gumbo also dismissed Tsvangirai’s claim that Zanu-PF was struggling with the economy, saying it was impossible for one to “judge a new government’s policies in about six months”.