The senior ZANU-PF official said the Botswana story was untrue and the arrests were designed to intimidate the opposition. He said moderates in the party strongly opposed such measures.
"There are a lot of people in the government who are going to lose out if there's a government of national unity. Things are going to be run differently," he said. They "are assiduously working to ensure that the deal doesn't stick. They are working day and night to ensure the deal is scuttled.
"People know that when they're out, they will be prosecuted," the official said. "You know the riskiest job . . . is to be president because if you do corrupt things, they will go for you when you are out of office. People are being made to account for their misdemeanors when they're in office."
The MDC says the arrests are destructive to the power-sharing deal.
"The biggest sucker punch to dialogue relates to the abductions of civic society and MDC leaders and activists, including 2-year-old children," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa in a statement last week.
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