Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) renewed a call Monday for regional mediators to help break an impasse over a fragile power-sharing deal, denying it planned new talks later in the day with President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party.
The state-run Herald newspaper reported that new talks would be held Monday on how to allocate contentious Cabinet posts under the deal, which would keep Mugabe as president while naming MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.
But the spokesperson for Tsvangirai’s MDC said that no new talks were scheduled for Monday, and again called for regional mediators to step in to break the impasse with Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.
“As far as we are concerned, there are no talks lined up today [Monday],” spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said.
“Nothing has been concluded. Zanu-PF and Mugabe are trying to mislead the world and the nation,” Chamisa said.
“It is now time the Southern African Development Community [SADC] and the African Union come and assist in this matter,” he added.
The MDC had called last week for SADC or the AU to help break the impasse, but Mugabe’s party insisted that no outside mediation was needed.
The Herald said the parties still disagreed on who should control the finance and home affairs ministries, but Chamisa said the entire Cabinet remained unsettled and accused Mugabe of seeking to control all important posts.
The failure to reach an accord on the Cabinet has delayed the formation of a unity government since a historic power-sharing deal was signed in Harare on September 15.
Stalemate
The deal, brokered by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, was hailed as a breakthrough in ending months of political deadlock and long-term economic meltdown in a country that was once a breadbasket for the region.
Under the agreement, Zanu-PF takes 15 Cabinet posts, Tsvangirai’s MDC 13 and a splinter MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara gets three.
The three parties have held a series of meetings but failed to agree on control of key posts, including home affairs, defence, finance and foreign affairs.
The latest meeting between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara on Saturday ended in a stalemate, prompting them to refer the matter to their negotiators.
Mbeki, who was forced to resign as president last month in a separate power struggle, has said that he is willing to resume his role as negotiator. So far, no plan for him to return to the talks has been announced.
Zanu-PF lost its parliamentary majority for the first time to the MDC in March elections, while Mugabe failed to win presidential elections outright.
However, the 84-year-old president kept his job in June after Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off poll, saying his supporters were in danger from violent attacks blamed on Zanu-PF.
Once one of Africa’s most-prosperous countries, Zimbabwe now suffers the world’s highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 11,2-million percent, with millions dependent on food aid. — AFP