|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean pro-democracy leader who opposed Mugabe, dies at 65
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Candidate
|
| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Feb 14, 2018 01:53pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Obituary |
| Author | Harrison Smith |
| News Date | Wednesday, February 14, 2018 07:30:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Morgan Tsvangirai, once an impoverished Zimbabwean nickel miner who became a charismatic union leader, pro-democracy activist and eventually the country’s embattled prime minister under a 2008 power-sharing agreement with his longtime foe, Robert Mugabe, has died. He was 65.
Elias Mudzuri, a vice president of Mr. Tsvangirai’s political party, announced the death on Twitter but did not provide additional details. Mr. Tsvangirai was being treated for colon cancer at a hospital in South Africa, according to Zimbabwean news outlets.
For nearly two decades, Mr. Tsvangirai (pronounced chang-girr-EYE) was the heavyset, baritone-voiced embodiment of Zimbabwe’s opposition movement. Sporting a weathered ox-hide jacket and steel-toed work boots, and driving a beat-up Mazda to political rallies, he maintained a working-class persona that veered sharply from that of Mugabe, a former Marxist revolutionary who favored well-tailored suits and a cavalcade fit for a king.
As the founding leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country’s leading opposition party, Mr. Tsvangirai oversaw what at times seemed to be a suicidal effort to oust Mugabe, an autocrat who ruled the country for 37 years. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
