Harare - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's party on Thursday denied claims it is in talks to form a coalition with beleaguered Vice President Joice Mujuru and her supporters in the ruling party.
Spokesperson Obert Gutu dismissed a report claiming the Movement for Democratic Change had agreed to become a junior partner in a future government led by Mujuru.
"We are a popular political party that is ready to govern on its own and we take this opportunity to reiterate that we have absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing factional fighting taking place in Zanu-PF," he said in a statement.
Spokesperson Obert Gutu dismissed a report claiming the Movement for Democratic Change had agreed to become a junior partner in a future government led by Mujuru.
"We are a popular political party that is ready to govern on its own and we take this opportunity to reiterate that we have absolutely nothing to do with the ongoing factional fighting taking place in Zanu-PF," he said in a statement.
"Zanu-PF has sought to rope us into their factional circus in order to divert attention away from more pressing national issues such as the collapsing economy," he added.
According to a front-page story in the Herald newspaper on Thursday, Mujuru, who is under pressure to quit her post over charges of corruption and plotting to eliminate President Robert Mugabe, was in talks with Tsvangirai's party to merge ahead of the 2018 elections.
"The parties proposed making VP Mujuru president and Mr Tsvangirai the deputy or alternatively prime minister just like the arrangement in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and premier Dmitry Medvedev," the Herald said, quoting an unnamed source.
The Herald is controlled by a faction of the ruling party headed by Mujuru's main rival, Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mnangagwa is believed to be partly behind the meteoric political rise of Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, who has been highly critical of Mujuru.
