HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s ruling party floated a proposal Wednesday for forming a government of national unity led by President Robert Mugabe as a way out of a political crisis that has dragged on for weeks.
The overture, given a prominent place in the state-owned Herald newspaper, could create room for discussion and diplomacy — but the opposition’s leader rejected any role for Mugabe in a coalition administration for this struggling southern African country.
“There is no possibility of a government of national unity,” Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said while visiting neighboring Mozambique seeking to drum up support against Mugabe.
The Herald also reported that the first results from a recount of 23 parliamentary races from March 29 elections confirmed a victory for Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party in a district east of the capital.
Initial returns showed Mugabe’s party losing control of parliament for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980, and the opposition and international critics of the regime fear the recount is designed to overturn that result and bolster the president.
No results at all have been released for the presidential race, which Tsvangirai is widely believed to have won. International pressure has been growing on Mugabe to report results and ensure they are not rigged in his favor.
Tsvangirai has called for an “inclusive government” with places for ZANU-PF politicians and others — but not for Mugabe, who has been accused of orchestrating brutal crackdowns on his foes and of wrecking the economy.
“We cannot talk of a unity government, because the MDC has won outright,” Tsvangirai said Wednesday in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.
However, the suggestion of a unity government got support from Jacob Zuma, the head of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress and the potential next president of the regional powerhouse.
“The fact of the matter is there is a crisis because of the elections,” he said while in London for talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “You need, therefore, for the two parties to be part of any solution — and a solution could be that. Why not if it helps Zimbabwe?”
Zuma and Brown described the situation in Zimbabwe as unacceptable and resolved to “redouble” efforts to get election results published.
Brown called for an international arms embargo on Zimbabwe after a Chinese ship carrying arms bound for Zimbabwe was stopped from unloading its cargo in South Africa last week.
