Tvangirai calls Mugabe a crook, threatens election boycott

London (UK)/Harare (Zimbabwe) - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has branded Robert Mugabe a crook and has threatened to boycott the elections if they are violent, he told supporters.

The MDC would also want monitors from the United Nations and European Union (EU) to oversee the elections, alongside the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Tsvangirai over the weekend held consultative meetings in Bulawayo that were attended by MDC supporters. The meetings are meant to brief Zimbabweans on the performance of the inclusive government and the disregard of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) by Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF.

The relationship between Tsvangirai and Mugabe has now deteriorated so badly that it seems unlikely that it can be repaired. The MDC says it's impossible to work with ZANU PF because it blatantly disregards the GPA, citing Mugabe's appointment of provincial governors and ambassadors without consulting the Prime Minister, as required in the Global Political Agreement. Mugabe has dismissed Tsvangirai's complaints as "nonsensical" and says he'll fully honour the GPA, but only when Western imposed sanctions on him and his inner circle are removed.

"Mugabe is a crook. Mugabe is a dishonest person. We do not see eye to eye in cabinet. We don't look at each other. The MDC has given up on Mugabe because of his continued violation of the GPA and early elections are the best option," Tsvangirai said to supporters on Friday.

"We want elections next year to end this unhappy marriage with Zanu PF. The MDC is ready for the elections but as a party, we will not participate in any election if there are incidents of violence and intimidation against out supporters," Tsvangirai said.

The Prime Minister's comments are a sharp contrast to his remarks in September where he said Mugabe was a national hero of the liberation struggle who accepted the power-sharing agreement. Asked to comment on this change of heart, Chamisa said: "The Prime Minister gave the issue of the inclusive government a chance, he gave all he could within his power, but it was not reciprocated. All he is telling the whole world is there has been no reciprocated action on the part of ZANU PF."

The MDC-T also says it wants officials from the United Nations and European Union to monitor Zimbabwe's elections. It wants the monitors to be in the country six months before and six months after elections. The party says the country's history of violent elections shows there is a need for this.

Political violence still simmers across the country, following the bloody 2008 elections when Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential race, Mugabe's first-ever defeat at the ballot box. In response, hundred of MDC supporters were murdered, tens of thousands tortured and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

On Monday MDC-T Spokesman Nelson Chamisa said: Our elections in this country have been subject to real disputation, we would want to make sure that we have a way of doing an election without people having disputes. There is SADC, the AU and any other credible institution that may wish to help people in Zimbabwe."

When asked if this included the UN and EU, Chamisa said: "Yes, certainly, those are credible institutions; we would want solidarity and endorsement, but more importantly SADC and the African Union as our brothers and sisters to come in here and work on the issue of elections."

Source: SW Radio Africa (UK/Zimbabwe)