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South Africa Offers Zimbabwe Truce Proposal

Opposition welcomes plan ceding real power to Tsvangirai as PM

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 7, 2008 10:33 AM CDT
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(Newser) – South African president Thabo Mbeki has proposed a compromise in Zimbabwe’s political crisis: Let Robert Mugabe remain president in name, but hand power to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as temporary prime minister, the Guardian reports. Members of opposition party Movement for Democratic Change were said to be largely satisfied with the plan, on the condition that the African Union would help enforce it.

“All the basic ideas of the MDC are there” in the proposal, a party source tells the Guardian. The document, whose existence a Mbeki rep neither confirmed nor denied, would make Tsvangirai PM pending a new constitution and elections. The MDC sees it as the South African leader’s acknowledgment that Mugabe is losing his grip on the country; Tsvangirai had accused Mbeki of  "colluding with Mugabe to play down the deepening political crisis."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and South African President Thabo Mbeki share a light moment before a family photo during a G-8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in Toyako, Japan, Monday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and South African President Thabo Mbeki share a light moment before a family photo during a G-8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in Toyako, Japan, Monday.   (AP Photo/Yuriko Nakao)
South African President Thabo Mbeki talks at the South African Parliament, in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, June 26, 2008.
South African President Thabo Mbeki talks at the South African Parliament, in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, June 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
South African President Thabo Mbeki gestures during a parliament meeting in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, June 11, 2008.
South African President Thabo Mbeki gestures during a parliament meeting in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, June 11, 2008.   (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen at a news conference in Harare Wednesday, July 2, 2008.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen at a news conference in Harare Wednesday, July 2, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe holds up the bible as he speaks at his inauguration ceremony at State House in Harare, Sunday, June, 29, 2008.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe holds up the bible as he speaks at his inauguration ceremony at State House in Harare, Sunday, June, 29, 2008.   (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai • South Africa • truce • Thabo Mbeki • power sharing deal • peace deal • Zimbabwe elections

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