Kaunda calls for Mugabe-led unity government

Kaunda calls for Mugabe-led unity government

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ZAMBIA'S founding leader on Sunday mooted a unity government in crisis-wracked Zimbabwe led by President Robert Mugabe with opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai holding a new prime ministerial post.

Kenneth Kaunda, a close friend of Mugabe, said there was a need to "rethink" the June 27 presidential run-off between the two, saying it would not bring peace to country, plagued by political and economic crises for years.

"We have in Zimbabwe a situation which will not be helped by any type of outcome of the June 27 repeat elections," Kaunda said in a statement.

He proposed a unity government headed by Mugabe with Tsvangirai as his prime minister, along the lines of a similar administration launched in Kenya this year to end bloody post-electoral violence after disputed polls.

"The authority between president and prime minister must be fairly shared," said Kaunda, who ruled Zambia from 1964 to 1991.

Mugabe served as Zimbabwe's prime minister from 1980 - the year the country gained independence from Britain - until 1987 when he abolished the position and assumed the new office of executive president, gaining more powers in the process.

Kaunda said leaders from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), regional bloc should begin work on fleshing out such a government.

"The call now is 'come together and start afresh'," Kaunda said. "Through uniting in this government, there can be healing for many dangerous divisions there are in Zimbabwe today."

Tsvangirai won the first round of the election in Zimbabwe in March but officially fell just short of an absolute majority.

Violence has mounted in the lead up to the run-off, with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change saying around 60 of its supporters have been killed by pro-Mugabe militias.

Mugabe blames the opposition for the increase in violence, but the United Nations' chief representative in Zimbabwe has said the president's supporters are to blame for the bulk of it.

The veteran leader is accused by critics of leading the once-model economy into ruins with the world's highest inflation rate and serious foot shortages. - Reuters
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