Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai Calls for “Negotiated Political Settlement”

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai has appealed to African leaders to help in a “negotiated political settlement” to help resolve the growing unrest in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai was scheduled to face President Robert Mugabe in a run-off election on Friday but the opposition leader pulled out on Sunday after calling the election an “exercise in futility.” Shortly after removing himself from the election Tsvangirai took refuge in the Dutch embassy, expressing fears for his life.

On Wednesday Tsvangirai left the embassy and returned to his home in Harare where he held a press conference in which declared his intentions, “I am asking the AU [African Union] and Sadc [Southern African Development Community] to lead an expanded initiative supported by the UN to manage what I will call a transitional process.”

During the press conference Tsvangirai also demanded the immediate release of his MDC deputy Tendai Biti who has been held on charges of treason

Mugabe has shown no plans of halting the scheduled Friday elections and has stated Tsvangirai only pulled out of the election because he wanted to avoid a humiliating defeat.

The international community has condemned Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party for the violence that has dominated Zimbabwe’s headlines during the election process. MDC officials have blamed Mugabe for the deaths of at last 86 supporters as well as the displacement of nearly 200,000 who have fled do to intimidation.

According to a report from BBC news Tsvangirai addressed four key demands during his press conference:

Mr Tsvangirai also listed four key demands that he described as a way out of the crisis.

·         Violence must stop immediately - war veterans and youth militias should return home and checkpoints be removed

·         Humanitarian assistance must be allowed into the country

·         All members of parliament elected on 29 March must be sworn in

·         All political prisoners, including the MDC secretary general, must be released immediately

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