(TALKZIMBABWE) Tsvangirai using 'deceit' to remain PM

Tsvangirai using 'deceit' to remain PM
By: Feature by Nancy Lovedale
Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 6:41 am

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has mastered the art of deceiving people and sometimes openly telling people what they want to hear in order to retain his position as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

On Thursday he told reporters that the inclusive Government was not working and that it should be ended, despite having expressed that the same government should run for five years last month. He told reporters that the "marriage" (inclusive Government) had led to confusion and a paralysis of leadership.

Tsvangirai's statement denouncing the inclusive Government was immediately echoed on Friday ambassadors from eight Western nations who appealed to the inclusive Government and the political parties to “respect the spirit and the letter of the GPA”.

The appeal was signed by envoys from Canada, Denmark, Australia, Germany, France, Austria, the Czech Republic and the European Union.

This has raised speculation that the prime minister is back to his tactics of using the EU to ensure that his party remains on the political map.

It has now emerged that Tsvangirai is hoodwinking the people of Zimbabwe to believe that there is no consensus in the inclusive Government, while he has a near-perfect working relationship with President Mugabe.

A day before telling reporters that the inclusive Government was not working, Tsvangirai had told 300 business executives from South Africa, London and the United States of America at a Euromoney Conference in Harare that the inclusive Government was "working very well" and that Cabinet business was proceeding smoothly.

On Tuesday this week, the PM had carried out an interview with a Financial Times reporter where he repeated that the government was working well.

In the interview with FT's Alec Russell, Tsvangirai said of the Cabinet meeting earlier that day: "“It was very good, very productive ... It’s enlightening that everyone was serious about addressing the concerns.”

He added: “If you were to enter the room you would not know who was who, MDC or Zanu-PF. The seating is Zanu-PF, MDC, Zanu-PF, MDC ... and he [Mugabe] and I direct.

"We really do consult when things get out of hand.”

Russell also reveals that the PM had also told David Cameron at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos (Switzerland) at the end of January that the inclusive Government was working well.

Shocked by this revelation from PM Tsvangirai, journalist Russell wrote: "So I am all but lost for words at Tsvangirai’s Milquetoast reference to his and Mugabe’s latest meeting – as, I have been told, was David Cameron when he was given a similarly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed account by Tsvangirai at Davos earlier this year."

It is now not clear what the PM's position is.

It is, however, clear that he does not want elections this year and wants the life of the inclusive Government extended, creating confusion among his followers.

He should tell the people of Zimbabwe what exactly is at play here.

If the inclusive Government is that bad, why is he still in?

The tactic of hoodwinking Zimbabweans at an opportune moment and openly telling lies to an increasing naive media audience will soon thin out. The West, we all know, has already revealed via WikiLeaks what it really thinks of the PM.

Only Zimbabweans are currently following the man blindly and the Zimbabwe media's toothcomb was lost a long time ago.

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Nancy Lovedale can be reached via nancy_lovedale@yahoo.com. She reports from Beijing, China.