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| Africa: Southern |
| Zvobgo blasts ânewâ ZANU PF |
| 2003-07-08 |
| POWERFUL ruling ZANU PF party politician Eddison Zvobgo has accused rivals within the party of hatching disloyalty charges against him in a bid to oust him from the party and exclude him from the race to succeed President Robert Mugabe as party leader and possibly state president. In a 23-page response to charges he had sabotaged Mugabeâs re-election campaign last year, Zvobgo vowed to contest for the presidency when and if Mugabe steps down. âSometime in the past I was asked by the Press if I wanted to be president and I said yes. The only qualification I put was that I would never contest President Robert Mugabe but stand ready to contest anyone else in ZANU PF,â Zvobgo wrote to party national chairman John Nkomo. âThat pledge stands. I have reason to believe that this heap of lies was designed to be a pre-emptive strike by those who want the same job but are too chicken to admit it.â Mugabe, at the helm of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, has indicated he wants to step down and encouraged his followers to openly debate his successor in ZANU PF. Whoever succeeds Mugabe in ZANU PF must face opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in an election to choose the state president. Mugabe has not publicly said who he wants to take over his job in ZANU PF or in the government, but party insiders say the ageing leader prefers his long-time disciple, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to replace him both as party and national leader. Mnangagwa has however publicly said he does not wish to be Zimbabweâs president. Zvobgoâs disclosure that he wants to contest for the presidency, which follows a declaration last week by one of Mugabeâs vice-presidents, Joseph Msika, that he was ready for the presidency if elected, is seen by party insiders as an attempt to thwart the imposition of a successor by Mugabe. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |