Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has survived treason charges and a severe beating by security forces in his long bid to topple Robert Mugabe, will now share power with his bitter rival.

Tsvangirai, who co-founded the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), will become prime minister in a new government brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, sources close to the talks said.

The MDC leader, who finished ahead of Mugabe in the March first round presidential poll but officially fell short of an outright majority, has often been labelled a "stooge" of the West by Mugabe and his supporters.

In June, Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential run-off, citing state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Mugabe proceeded with the disputed one-man vote, which he predictably won overwhelmingly.

As prime minister, Tsvangirai is expected to chair a council of ministers which is responsible for the day-to-day managing of the country's affairs.

He will manage 31 ministers split between Zanu-PF with 15, MDC-Tsvangirai with 13 and MDC-Mutambara, a smaller opposition faction, with three, a source said.

Tsvangirai has received backing from certain African leaders, including Botswana's President Ian Khama and Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Others, however, have been more reluctant to offer their support.

Tsvangirai's courage doubted

Tsvangirai's political acumen has sometimes been questioned but few have doubted his courage, whether standing in the dock on charges of treason or lying in hospital with serious head wounds after a police beating.

In the run-up to the disputed June run-off, he was detained several times while campaigning.

The opposition leader has been a thorn in the side of Mugabe since the 1990s and accused him of rigging his way to victory in a 2002 election in which official results gave Tsvangirai 1.2 million votes against Mugabe's 1.6-million.

Tsvangirai is taking charge of a country in economic meltdown with an inflation rate of more than 11-million percent and an unemployment rate of 80 percent.

He first took on Mugabe when, as secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, he led a series of crippling strikes against high taxes in 1997 and 1998.

His protests were not appreciated by his foes. He claims to have been the target of four assassination attempts, including one in 1997 when assailants tried to throw him out of his office window.

A plot to kill Mugabe

Tsvangirai's career almost came to a halt in 2001 when he went on trial charged with plotting to kill Mugabe in a case based on testimony by a former Israeli secret agent. He was eventually cleared.

Two years later, a second charge of treason was levelled against him for calling on party supporters to overthrow the government in a case which was thrown out of court before going to trial.

In March 2007 he was among dozens of opposition supporters assaulted as they tried to stage an anti-government rally, suffering head injuries.

"Yes, they brutalised my flesh. But they will never break my spirit. I will soldier on until Zimbabwe is free," he said in a message from his hospital bed.

Born in 1952 in Gutu, south of the capital Harare, he is the eldest of nine children and the son of a bricklayer.

After school, he worked for 10 years at a nickel mine in the province of Mashonaland Central, rising to become general foreman before having his first taste of politics in a trade union.

AFP

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook