Ok before you flame me for calling Tsvangirai an idiot, hear me out.
How many chances will this guy give Mugabe?
Here's the latest news regarding Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe's opposition leader said he is due to hold talks with President Robert Mugabe "within this coming week" to try to resolve the
political crisis. Morgan Tsvangirai said he was returning to Zimbabwe for the first time in two months, and said he was still committed to an
"inclusive" government.
news.bbc.co.uk...
Here's a bit of a time line for reference:
In 1999 Tsvangirai founded and organised the Movement for Democratic Change, an opposition party opposed to President Robert Mugabe and the
ZANU-PF ruling party. He helped to defeat the February 2000 constitutional referendum, successfully campaigning against it along with the National
Constitutional Assembly. Tsvangirai lost the March 2002 presidential election to Mugabe. The election provoked widespread allegations that Mugabe had
rigged the election through the use of violence, media bias, and manipulation of the voters' roll leading to abnormally high pro-Mugabe turnout in
some areas.
October 2000 arrest
Tsvangirai was arrested after the government alleged that he had threatened President Robert Mugabe. The Movement for Democratic Change leader had
told 40,000 supporters at a rally in Harare that if Mr Mugabe did not want to step down before the next elections scheduled for 2002 "we will remove
you violently." However, Tsvangirai said that he was giving a warning to President Mugabe to consider history. "There is a long line of dictators
who have refused to go peacefully — and the people have removed them violently," he said. The courts dismissed the charges.
June 2003 arrest
In May, 2003 Tsvangirai was arrested on a Friday afternoon shortly after giving a press conference, the government alleged he had incited
violence. In the press conference he had said:
From Monday, 2 June, up to today, 6 June, Mugabe was not in charge of this country. He was busy marshaling his forces of repression against the
sovereign will of the people of Zimbabwe. However, even in the context of the brutalities inflicted upon them, the people's spirit of resistance was
not broken. The sound of gunfire will never silence their demand for change and freedom.
Things seemed to cool down for 4 years until March 2007 where he again was arrested and severely beaten, then released not long after. Only to be
arrested AGAIN just before he was due to hold a press conference with the media about recent political violence in the country.
According to lawyer Tendai Biti, the Secretary-General of the MDC and an MP for Harare East, who was arrested along with Tsvangirai, Tsvangirai
suffered a cracked skull and "must have passed out at least three times." Tsvangirai was subsequently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at a
local hospital.[19] Reports from BBC News indicate that Tsvangirai suffered from a fractured skull and received blood transfusions for internal
bleeding. Although the incident was a clear case of political violence ordered by Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai has since had very little political
support from surrounding African countries.
After his bodyguard got murdered and an assassination attempt on Mr Tsvangirai was discovered, he again was arrested days before the 2008 elections,
it's believed it was a ploy to disrupt his campaign.
It may have worked:
On 22 June 2008, Tsvangirai announced at a press conference that he was withdrawing from the run-off, describing it as a
"violent sham" and saying that his supporters risked being killed if they voted for him. He vowed that the MDC would ultimately prevail and that its
victory could "only be delayed."[61]. Shortly after making this announcement, Mr Tsvangirai sought refuge at the Dutch Embassy in Harare, citing
concerns for his safety. He did not seek political asylum
________________________________________________________________
Finally Tsvangirai and Mugabe met in talks and negotiated a deal:
On 15 September 2008, the leaders of the 14-member Southern African Development Community witnessed the signing of the power-sharing agreement,
brokered by South African leader Thabo Mbeki. With symbolic handshake and warm smiles at the Rainbow Towers hotel, in Harare, Mugabe and Tsvangirai
signed the deal to end violent political crisis provides. As provided, Robert Mugabe will remain president, Morgan Tsvangirai will become prime
minister, [70] the MDC will control the police, Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) will command the Army, and Arthur Mutambara becomes deputy prime
minister.[
this agreement hasn't worked out well though, which takes us to the article at the top of the page.
Why then, after nearly 10 years of Mugabe's dictatorship, does this man still want to have anything to do with Mugabe?
Morgan Tsvangirai is either very brave, very stupid, or both.
Whatever he is I admire his tenacity.
en.wikipedia.org...
