Johannesburg, South Africa (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's long-standing political conflict will not be resolved unless a fair election takes place, says Morgan Tsvangirai, the country's prime minister.
Speaking to CNN's Robyn Curnow in Johannesburg, Tsvangirai said: "The country will not move forward unless you have a credible and a legitimate election, so we have to get that mandate".
He added: "The time will have to be decided on the timing of it but certainly going to election is the one that will provide that exit strategy".
In 2009, Tsvangirai, who has survived three assassination attempts, imprisonment and beatings, entered into an uneasy power-sharing agreement with his arch-enemy of years, Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe.
He says that a compromise was necessary in order for the country to put its recent beleaguered history behind and move forward.
"When the country was confronted with chaos and anarchy, we rescued our country and saved it in order to have the long-term stability that we are looking for," said Tsvangirai, a former miner and trade union boss who helped form Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change party and became its leader in 1999.
One of the goals of Zimbabwe's national unity government is to drum up investment for the country's fragile economy.
Marketplace Africa spoke to Tsvangirai about his deal with Mugabe, investment opportunities in Zimbabwe and the country's future.
CNN
