African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that Zimbabwe’s political parties should keep talking to resolve an impasse in forming a Cabinet under a power-sharing deal.
But Zuma said that if outside mediation was needed, he was confident that his rival, former South African president Thabo Mbeki, could step in to break the deadlock.
”I am hoping that it is going to be resolved by Zimbabweans themselves. I think it is just taking long. They just have to negotiate with themselves and find a solution,” Zuma said in an interview on SAfm radio.
”What is happening now is a challenge to the leadership … to exercise responsibility as the leaders and the political parties for the sake of the country,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on September 15 to form a unity government under a deal brokered by Mbeki.
Talks have since bogged down, with Tsvangirai accusing Mugabe of wanting to grab most key ministries — such as defence, home affairs, foreign affairs and finance.
A protracted political crisis has wreaked havoc in Zimbabwe, once one of Africa’s most prosperous countries, which now suffers the world’s highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 11,2-million percent, with millions dependent on food aid.
Just days after Mbeki brokered the deal, he was forced from office in his own long-running power struggle with Zuma.
But Zuma on Tuesday commended his rival’s mediation efforts, and said he was confident that the former president could return to Zimbabwe if his help was again needed.
”If he intervenes again, I am certain he will do a good job,” Zuma said.
Urgent help
Meanwhile, the MDC said on Tuesday talks on forming a Cabinet with Mugabe’s party were deadlocked over all key ministries and called for urgent African mediation.
”The MDC dismisses Zanu-PF claims that only two Cabinet posts are yet to be resolved,” the opposition said in a statement.
It called for help from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union.
Zanu-PF officials were not immediately available for comment.
A senior Zanu-PF official said on Monday that Mugabe was expected to meet opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the next two days in another attempt to break a deadlock over cabinet posts.
But the MDC said there had been no contact between the parties since talks on Saturday between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, who heads a breakaway MDC faction.
”Considering the fact that it is now exactly 21 days after the signing of the global agreement, the Cabinet deadlock calls for the urgent help and assistance from SADC and AU as guarantors of the deal to unfreeze the impasse,” said the MDC.
Under the outline agreement, Mugabe will retain the presidency and chair the Cabinet, while Tsvangirai heads a council of ministers supervising the Cabinet. — AFP, Reuters