Mnangagwa rules out coalition government

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has ruled out forming a coalition government after visiting opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai at his home in Harare today.

Zimbabwe is due to hold elections, which Mnangagwa has previously said could come as early as March, seen as crucial to his legitimacy.

Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change were partners in a government of national unity for five years until 2013.

“Currently there is no need,” Mnangagwa said about the possibility of forming a coalition with Tsvangirai’s MDC.

Mnangagwa came to power in November last year following a de facto military coup which forced veteran leader Robert Mugabe to step down after 37 years in power.

The new president has promised to push through economic and political reforms.

Tsvangirai, who is due to challenge Mnangagwa in the elections, has been receiving treatment for colon cancer since 2016 but says he is in good health.

“He is fine, he is recuperating very well and says he will soon again be having a medical check-up in South Africa,” said Mnangagwa after the visit.

“It is a welcome thing. Its African to care for one another, and it is very Zimbabwean,” MDC vice president, Nelson Chamisa said of the President’s visit.

“This is the new politics we want to see, the politics of peace, the politics of working together, the politics of feeling for each other and for one another.

“This is the direction and we hope that this is the kind of talk that will be talked and the kind of walk that would be walked. Going forward to the elections we want to see peaceful elections in Zimbabwe.” – The Source

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