By Sifelani Tsiko
 Harare, Zimbabwe (Dec 14 2006)

President Robert Mugabe says he has no intention to stay in power for life but will retire at an appropriate time when his ruling Zanu PF party feels the time is right to do so.

His remarks come at a time when there is intense jockeying for Mugabe's job by two main rival camps within his party, one believed to led by his former army commander, retired General Solomon Mujuru and another by a cabinet minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

"I will retire, of course, someday, but it all depends on the circumstances. I can't retire if my party is going to be in shambles. But any day we feel we are redy for that retirement, that is we as a party feel we are ready for it, sure," Mugabe told Omni Television of Canada journalists who visited the country recently.

In this interview, Mugabe said it was his suggestion that the presidential elections and parliamentary elections should be harmonised and held in one vote to cut the presidential term which he felt was too long.

"Well, well, actually the suggestion came from me earlier on. I said the six-year term for the president was far too long, and then, of course, it produced the disparity and imbalance and the discord between the parliamentary and presidential elections," he said.

"I think it is better to have the two together. What it means is that, we remove one year from six and get five years for the president and five years for the Parliament, and we synchronise the system of elections. Then, there is harmony and that's what we want."

Presidential elections were due in 2008 and parliamentary elections in 2010, but the ruling party was at the on-going party conference (Dec 13-16) now pushing for the harmonisation of the elections, something which required constitutional changes.

If the party approves this, as is expected, it will then push for constitutional changes in Parliament to extend Mugabe's term by two years till 2010.

Zimbabwe last held presidential and parliamentary polls at the same time in 1990.
The decision to extend Mugabe's term of office has numbed some party members jockeying for power.
Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa has ruled out that the succession issue will be high on the agenda at this year's party conference.

"The succession issue is not on the agenda but could arise as any other  business as part of the resolutions. The issue cannot be said to be the main topis of the conference," he said.

Mugabe, who turns 83 next February has in the past fired volleys at his party members jockeying for power clandestinely.

"Even before the term of the President (has expired) they want the seat. I haven't completed my term, but you are already waiting by the door like a witch," Mugabe said taking a swipe at power struggles within his party.

Mugabe, in power since 1980, has repeatedly said his successor must be chosen by the people and that those with qualities should offer themselves for the take over.

He also said he would not pick his successor because people should be given the right to choose their next leader.
"I will never groom a successor. We will never do that. We will never make that mistake," the veteran leader who led 16-year guerilla war against the Ian Smith regime said in 2005.

Moves to extend Mugabe's term have riled American, British and other European diplomats, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other civic activists, who warned that his continued stay would worsen the economic situation in the country.

"Extending President Mugabe's mandate will only serve to delay the return of normalcy to Zimbabwe. It is Mugabe who has a war with international funding institutions and not the people of Zimbabwe. What is likely to happen is that if Mugabe's term is extended, many donors, even those funding humanitarian work, will just give up on Zimbabwe and pull out their money," one unnamed diplomat was quoted saying in the Standard, a privately-owned weekly.

"His latest ploy to extend his term to 2010 must be rejected by all patriotic Zimbabweans who want a new Zimbabwe of freedom, prosperity and democracy," said Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman for the Morgan Tsvangirai camp of the MDC.

Other political analysts say Mugabe is a master in the game of politics and his continued stay is motivated by the need to ensure continuity of the liberation movement, his party which fought a bruising war against colonial rule and managed to reclaim land from a minority white population numbering 4 000 which owned huge tracts of land and the most fertile land.

"He does not want to see Zanu PF in shambles after his departure, neither does he want to see MDC takeover the country. Mugabe does not want the ideals of the revolution, Pan Africanist ideals and the legacy of people like Nkrumah to be sold in return for the coins from IMF and its sister institution, the World Bank," said a University of Zimbabwe political analyst.

"He is quite clear about this. He wants continuity and stability in his own party guided by these ideals and principles."

The US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Mugabe for alleged abuses of human rights, while China, Russia and other countries critical of the West have supported him in his fight against western domination.

Sanctions have had a devastating effect on the country's economy worsening the plight of the poor.
Only time will tell which way the explosive succession debate will swing. For now, Mugabe is still here to stay and will continue to influence the country's political landscape until he decides to call it a day.