Mugabe wants elections, end of coalition in Zimbabwe next year

Dec 8, 2011, 20:55 GMT

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe said Thursday he's confident of a win in proposed elections next year and the end of the fragile 30-month-old coalition government.

Addressing the annual conference of his Zanu PF party in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Mugabe said he was tired of the power-sharing agreement he signed in 2008 with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party.

'We're saying the time has come now to prepare for elections. We just have to have elections next year. Let's go to an election so people can choose a government of their liking,' he said, drawing cheers from about 5,000 delegates he addressed for more than two hours.

In 2008, then-opposition leader Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first-round vote, but pulled out of a second round, citing violence against his MDC supporters by Zanu PF militias. Regional leaders in February 2009 forced the formation of a government that split power between the two former political foes.

Since then, Zimbabwe's economy, which had been in free fall since 1998, has been recovering.

The 87-year-old Mugabe also said his government would not back down on the policy that awards black Zimbabweans a majority stake in foreign-owned firms.

'We will not reverse this policy. Let no one deceive themselves that it's devised for the elections. No, it's a fundamental policy,' Mugabe said of the law, which has divided the country's coalition. Tsvangirai has maintained that the law was 'rushed' and would scare away investors.

On Thursday, Mugabe said the policy was meant to address imbalances brought about by colonialism.

The convention - being held about 450km south of Harare - ends on Saturday, when the party is expected to endorse Mugabe as its candidate in Zimbabwe's next presidential polls.