I'm ready to stand for President again, says Mugabe

Mugabe, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, was addressing a rare press conference.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are due in two years, according to the terms of last year's national unity accord, which allowed Mugabe to govern alongside his longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai who is now Prime Minister.

Under the accord, mediated by South Africa, the 2012 election will only take place once a new constitution is adopted.

The drafting of the new constitution has faced disruption by Mugabe's supporters, who are opposed to reforms.

Listen Q+A: Zimbabwe analyst John Makumbe   05/03/2010 by Billie O'Kadameri   Listen (03:06)

That is no surprise to Zimbabwe analyst John Makumbe, who says that Mugabe fears he may face legal action if he leaves office.

'I think there is a very strong feeling in Zimbabwe that his party has no intention of offloading him while he is still alive," he told RFI. "Secondly they don't have anyone else who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Morgan Tsvangirai in an election and expect to win and thirdly he is desperate to die in office so that he doesn't have to stand for the charges of atrocities or crimes against humanity that he may have committed over the tlast 30 years."

Zanu-PF would "collapse like a deck of cards" if Mugabe stepped down, according to Makumba.

"The style of leadership of most of these African leaders ... their style of leadership of their political parties is such that they alone, are the party and the party is themselves and all their underlings are really relegated to the provinces and so if they should vacate office for any reason, the party fails to hold together and it collapses."