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Stephen Sackur (SS) - President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is in his 80’s, his country is in economic collapse and his ruling party is divided over his succession and yet Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, seems preoccupied with internal battles. My guest today, in Johannesburg, is a senior member of the MDC and the question is does Zimbabwe’s Opposition have what it takes to mobilize the masses?

David Coltart welcome to Hard Talk.

David Coltart (DC) - Thank you.

SS - Where do you think Zimbabwe’s Opposition should focus its efforts against Robert Mugabe now? Should it be on the streets with street protests or should it be the Parliamentary process?

DC - I think we need to realise that this isn’t actually a sprint that we had hoped but more of a marathon and we’ve got to employ a wide range of tactics against this regime; it has to be not just in the streets - it has to be in the streets to get the worlds attention - but it also needs to be in the Courts, it needs to be in Parliament and it needs to be in the international community.

SS - You say it’s not a sprint, but everybody knows that we are entering the ‘End Game’ for Robert Mugabe, he’s in his early 80’s, he’s faces the decision about what to do in 2008 when his current term runs out. So these matters are now pressing - you cannot wait and decide strategy in the future.

DC - No, no, we are not waiting to decide strategy in the future, this is a plan that has been in place for a while and I think it is wrong as well to say that this is going to end with Robert Mugabe’s departure. This is a structural problem. This is an issue concerning a regime and it’s a problem that goes beyond Robert Mugabe

I’ve had many emails saying that some people have been unable to find the Hardtalk interview on the BBC website or that you were unable to watch it online. I can confirm that it is now available for viewing online via the BBC at a page titled ‘Zimbabwe after Mugabe’. This is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/6063888.stm.

In addition to that, I have added an audio file of the interview that is available for downloading by clicking on the link at the end of this post (to save it to your computer, right-click on the link and choose ’save link as’). The audio file is in MP3 format and is 2.7MB in size. I appreciate that this is still a very large file for those who are trying to download via a dial-up connection. To make it easier for Zimbabweans, I plan to upload a transcript of the interview to the website as soon as possible. Please keep checking back.

If you know someone who would like to receive a copy of the interview transcript but does not have access to the internet, please ask them to send us an email requesting that we email the transcript to them as soon as it is available.

Hardtalk interview (MP3 audio file, 2.7MB)

The BBC have apologized for the non-screening of the scheduled interview on 9 October 2006. Please be advised that the Hardtalk interview will now be screened on Thursday, 12 October 2006 at 5.30, 10.30, 16.30 and 20.30 Central African time. Please can viewers outside Zimbabwe doublecheck the times for their region by visiting the BBC Hardtalk webpage, which can be found at the link below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/default.stm

Hardtalk interviews can also be viewed online via the Hardtalk website (using the link).

Finally, if you miss the programme and would like to watch it, please do a keyword search for my name on the Hardtalk website and you should be ble to watch it there after 12th October as well.

Update: 12 October 2006
A breakdown of TV listings for BBC World is available here. Select 12 October, and your country from the time zone drop down menu - this will give you a full TV schedule for the day, including times for the Hardtalk programme.