Zimbabwe president says mental instability prompted opposition pullout from coalition
By APSaturday, October 31, 2009
Zimbabwe pres.: opposition “not mentally stable”
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s president says he is committed to working with his estranged prime minister despite his assessment that the former opposition leader is “not mentally stable” for boycotting the coalition government.
President Robert Mugabe says Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s opposition party has “one leg in, and one leg out” of the government but he is pleased coalition partners are talking about their differences.
Tsvangirai withdrew from the coalition on Oct. 16, citing a lack of co-operation and human rights abuses by Mugabe and his party.
Mugabe, 85, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.
The leaders forged a unity government in February after two violence-plagued elections left the country at a political standstill and in economic ruin.
