Has Mugabe quit talks?
2008-08-21 15:21
Special Report
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party says the partial lifting of sanctions on members of the veteran ruler’s inner circle is "a non-event".
A dusty road leads to the village of Wedza, where veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war eke out a meagre living on their farm cooperative, which after a promising start now brings only despair.
Nairobi - President Robert Mugabe may have decided to abandon power-sharing talks aimed at ending Zimbabwe's deep crisis, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday.
Tsvangirai said Mugabe's intention to open parliament next Tuesday was a "repudiation" of a Memorandum of Understanding on the basis for talks to end a political deadlock that followed disputed June elections.
If President Mugabe goes ahead to convene parliament, appoint a new cabinet, it means he is proceeding to violate the conditions of the MOU which means he may have abandoned the basis for the talks. But we don't know what his intentions are," Tsvangirai told a news conference in Nairobi.
"A violation of the MOU will have to be dealt with by the mediator," he added.
President Thabo Mbeki is mediating in the talks, which began last month to resolve an impasse following Mugabe's unopposed election in a widely condemned vote boycotted by Tsvangirai because of violence against his supporters.
Tsvangirai confirmed that the talks were deadlocked over the roles of president and prime minister in a new government. Mugabe is expected to remain as president but, backed by security chiefs, he is reluctant to cede key powers.
Tsvangirai wants a real executive power as prime minister.
Short transition
"There is one stumbling issue which we have been grappling with - the framework of the power and roles of the president and the new position of prime minister for the duration of the transition leading up to 2-½ years," Tsvangirai said.
Whereas the opposition wants a short transition before new elections, Mugabe is believed to want a full five-year term.
A member of a breakaway faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said in a newspaper interview on Thursday that Tsvangirai had rejected a deal that would have seen executive power shared between him and Mugabe.
Welshman Ncube, chief negotiator of the smaller MDC faction, told South Africa's Star that southern African leaders, Mugabe and his group saw this as a reasonable arrangement.
It was the clearest indication yet of the proposal being discussed at the talks.
The faction, led by Arthur Mutambara, controls the balance of power. Although any deal between him and Mugabe could weaken Tsvangirai, it would be unlikely to end Zimbabwe's crisis.
Mugabe's decision to go ahead with opening parliament suggests there is no solution in sight to the deep deadlock with Tsvangirai.
Political analyst and Mugabe critic John Makumbe said Mugabe, a skilful negotiator, had gained the upper hand.
Tsvangirai won the first round of presidential elections in March and says that entitles him to effective leadership of the once-prosperous nation.
Economic refugees
Both sides are under major pressure from both within Africa and around the world to reach an agreement that will pave the way for the rebuilding of Zimbabwe's devastated economy, now suffering inflation of at least 11 million per cent.
The crisis has flooded neighbouring states with millions of economic refugees.
Tsvangirai said a new prime minister must have the authority to run and control government. He said he did not expect Mugabe to be a ceremonial president but neither could he be a ceremonial prime minister.
He said he had come to Kenya, for talks with Prime Minister Raila Odinga, to try to learn from the power-sharing deal that ended a bloody post-election crisis earlier this year in which an estimated 1 500 people died.
Tsvangirai suggested Mugabe would not be able to convince all members of parliament to attend next Tuesday's opening. "President Mugabe will not proceed to do anything unilaterally, any steps that we take have to be by consensus," he said.
- Reuters