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Harare: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is staging a de facto military coup to keep himself in power but will be ousted with the help of other African countries, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.
"We'll manage to get Mugabe out. Mugabe is being deserted. No one wants to touch Mugabe in the region now. Eventually, we will ease him out," Tsvangirai told Time Magazine.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Mugabe, 84, of prolonging the delay in issuing the results of a March 29 presidential election while he plans a violent response to his biggest defeat since taking power in 1980.
Preparing for a run-off
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament for the first time in the election but no results of the parallel presidential vote have been issued.
"This is, in a sense, a de facto military coup. They have rolled out military forces across the whole country, to prepare for a run-off and try to cow the population. It's an attempt to try to create conditions for Mugabe to win," Tsvangirai said.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the ruling party was preparing for a runoff after its tallies showed neither Tsvangirai nor Mugabe won the required absolute majority.
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