In rare joint appearance, Mugabe and Tsvangira vow cooperation

Mon, 20 Dec 2010

Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Monday they would continue to work together to keep their troubled coalition government from collapsing.

In a rare joint press briefing, both Mugabe and Tsvangirai said they were happy with the way Zimbabwe's economy had improved since the two erstwhile enemies formed a coalition government last year.

"We are different parties, we go at each other at the party level, yes," said Mugabe, 86.

"But let it not be said that we are dysfunctional, we are at war. No," he added, defending his attack on Tsvangirai at a conference of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over the weekend.

Tsvanigirai said, "This inclusive government will not collapse. We will make sure that it does not collapse."

Mugabe was flanked by Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara with whom he formed a unity government last year.

That followed African regional leaders' refusal to recognize a presidential run-off vote in which Mugabe had declared himself the winner in 2008.

Tsvangirai, who had won the first round, pulled out of the run-off election, citing violence targeting his MDC supporters.

The coalition government has been marred by disagreements between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, leading to calls for a new election as the only solution.

Over the weekend Mugabe told his supporters that he was tired of working with Tsvangirai and wanted elections next year.

But at the Monday briefing both Mugabe and Tsvangirai said Zimbabweans would go to elections once a referendum for a new constitution had been held. They declined to name a date for the referendum.

"The inclusive government is a transitional mechanism that will lead to an election," Tsvangirai said, saying he hoped for a "roadmap" pointing the way to elections after a referendum.