MDC suffering 'identity crisis'

2009-05-31 13:21

Harare - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Saturday his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was suffering an identity crisis since entering government with his arch-rival, President Robert Mugabe.

"The crisis we face is a crisis of identity," he told MDC delegates at the party's annual conference on Saturday in Harare. The MDC is ten years old this year.

"It (the party) is half a donkey and half a horse. It is a mule," he said.

"Our confusion arises from the fact that being in government does not necessarily mean we are the government. Being in government does not necessarily mean that we have the liberty... to make the decisions you want," he said, lamenting the fact that the government had not "moved far".

Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a coalition government in February to try to end the country's decade-long economic nosedive, but the government has been dogged by disagreements.

Controversial central banker

Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe of acting unilaterally in appointing senior government officials such as the central bank boss and the attorney-general.

While they have resolved some of their disputes, Mugabe is refusing to recall his choice of controversial central banker, Gideon Gono - known for his penchant for printing money to cover spending by Mugabe's party.

The matter has since been referred to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders who brokered the power sharing deal.

While failing to attract much donor funding, the new MDC-led finance ministry has reined in hyperinflation and eased food shortages.

On Friday new government figures showed inflation at -1.1%. At the height of Zimbabwe's crisis the inflation rate went to 500 billion percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Schools have opened, state-owned hospitals are functioning again and shops are now stocked with most basic goods but the country's dilapidated water and sanitation infrastructure threaten another outbreak of the cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 4 200 lives since last year.

Harare says it needs $8.3bn to kick start the economy which has been in recession for close to a decade.

Major foreign donors are insisting on political reforms, reversal of nationalisation laws and an end to farm invasions before funding the government.

- SAPA