- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Zimbabwe opppostion leader says MDC intends to win elections
- Date: 14th February 2008
- Summary: (W2) JOHANNESBURG; SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 13, 2008) (REUTERS) MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) LEADER MORGAN ADDRESSING NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) LEADER, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "As for me and the MDC, we have decided that we are going to participated in the forthcoming elections, we are a democratic party, recognising that we are confronting a dictatorship, we will nevertheless contest knowing the outcome, but we intend to win as we have done for the last three major elections, we intend to win this forthcoming election." JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) LEADER, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "The people of Zimbabwe are desperate for change, they have endured years of suffering in abject poverty, inflation is over 25 000% further increasing the scorge of poverty, unemployment is over 90%, in particular the urban and rural poor are now excluded from the economy." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) LEADER, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SAYING: "It is a concern when politics takes center stage at the expense of the security and safety of the people. I believe that it is an indictment of the democratic development in Africa, if the situation in kenya is repeated elsewhere. We don't want that in Zimbabwe, and we will never endorse such an outcome, as I have said, we won the 2002, 2005 even the 2000 election. The people of Zimbabwe know that conflict when it degenerates to the level of violence, it is the ordinary person that is going to suffer, and I agree with them. So, as a democratic committed to a democratic dispensation in Zimbabwe, we discourage such an outcome, because no one benefits, when such an outcome occurs." MEDIA LISTENING MORGAN ADDRESSING MEDIA NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 29th February 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA8WUYN50LYW0QVMK7FSHHXKC88
- Story Text: Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe opposition leader says he intends to win general elections next month but that he is concerned Kenya's post-election violence may be repeated in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said on Wednesday (February 13) that the MDC was ready and optimistic about winning the upcoming general elections, despite saying they faced a dictatorship.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondent Association (FCA) in Johannesburg Morgan Tsvangirai was defiant,
"We are a democratic party, recognising that we are confronting a dictatorship, we will nevertheless contest knowing the outcome, but we intend to win as we have done for the last three major elections, we intend to win this forthcoming election," he said.
The movement split in 2005 and had been trying to agree on a pact to unite behind Tsvangirai to challenge Mugabe, who turns 84 later this month.
The MDC had earlier said it could boycott the March 29 polls if Mugabe's government refused to adopt a new draft constitution agreed between the two sides.
Tsvangirai said that the MDC was concerned about what happened in Kenya following their recent elections.
"We don't want that in Zimbabwe, and we will never endorse such an outcome, as I have said, we won the 2002, 2005 even the 2000 election. The people of Zimbabwe know that conflict when it degenerates to the level of violence, it is the ordinary person that is going to suffer, and I agree with them," he said.
Analysts say a divided opposition stands little chance of defeating Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 and is accused by critics of plunging the country into crisis.
Mugabe has vowed to clinch a landslide victory in next month's elections to silence the opposition and shame Western foes he says are sponsoring his rivals to remove him from power.
Critics say the veteran leader has ruined Zimbabwe through controversial policies such as the seizure of white-owned farms for blacks and lately plans to localise foreign-owned companies, including banks and mines.
Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate, at over 25,000 percent, rising unemployment and acute shortages of food, fuel and transport.
Mugabe denies charges he has wrecked a once promising economy and blames former colonial ruler Britain for leading a Western onslaught against his government as punishment for the land seizures. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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