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18 August 2008
By Huma Yusuf
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition party, failed to reach a power-sharing deal Sunday at a conference of southern African leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Chief mediator Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, and others were hopeful that a deal would be reached to help stem political instability in Zimbabwe since the crisis there is having economic and humanitarian consequences across the region.
According to the BBC, the talks stalled because Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai could not agree on the exact details of how power would be shared in a national unity government. Tsvangirai, who is slated to take up a prime ministerial role, reportedly requires that the cabinet be answerable to him alone.
Both sides in the negotiations have agreed on many things – that there should be a power-sharing government, that Mugabe should be president and Mr Tsvangirai prime minister. But the opposition has insisted that the president should cede real executive power to the MDC leader and stay in office only as a ceremonial head of state.
Tsvangirai is prepared to share cabinet posts with members of [Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party], but he wants ministers to be answerable to him rather than Mugabe. This … Mugabe refuses to concede.
According to the news website All Africa, negotiations were somewhat fruitful and the governing party and opposition have a good basis for the progress of talks after this weekend's conference.
Mr. Mbeki, the incoming chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said at the end of the SADC annual summit on Sunday that the heads of state and government who attended the meeting believed Zimbabwean negotiators had produced a set of documents that "form a good basis for a speedy resolution of outstanding matters."
The BBC adds that Mr. Mbeki has said that the talks will continue and that the secretary-general of the MDC believes a deal with Mugabe's Zanu-PF party would be reached "very soon."
According to Reuters, regional leaders are invested in resolving the political stalemate because violence, economic decline, and the shortage of basic goods have caused millions of Zimbabweans to flee to neighboring countries. Despite the consensus on the urgency of the crisis in Zimbabwe, the report adds, some African leaders have a clear preference as to how power should be shared between the two main political parties.
Tsvangirai [is] seen by some African leaders and Western diplomats as having the only legitimate claim on the presidency after besting Mugabe in a credible March election….
Tsvangirai is not alone in wishing Mugabe would leave power. Mugabe's two harshest critics in the region were absent at the meeting Saturday. The president of Botswana, Seretse Khama Ian Khama, boycotted it on the grounds that Mugabe's presence would endow him with a legitimacy he did not deserve.
The New York Times also reports that regional leaders are trying to influence the outcome of the power-sharing talks.
After meeting on Zimbabwe on Sunday evening, regional leaders issued a communiqué urging the parties to "conclude the negotiations as a matter of urgency to restore political stability in Zimbabwe."...
The statement issued by regional leaders on Sunday seemed more directed at pressing Mr. Tsvangirai to settle than at encouraging Mr. Mugabe to cede more authority to him.
Tsvangirai announced Monday that he would tour southern African countries to seek support for ending the Zimbabwe crisis, reports Bloomberg.
The London-based daily The Independent reports that the failure of the talks is a serious blow to South Africa's Mbeki, who assumed chairmanship of the SADC on Saturday after vowing to reach a deal during the weekend summit. Mbeki has faced criticism both at home and abroad for his handling of the crisis.
Last month, The Christian Science Monitor foreshadowed sticking points that would prevent Mugabe and Tsavangirai from reaching a power-sharing agreement.
Authoritative sources in ZANU-PF told The Christian Science Monitor that Mugabe, who has been ruling Zimbabwe since the country's independence from Britain in 1980, would not to accept any other role other than heading the new political establishment.
"Having two centers of power in the country is a major challenge, because, on one hand, Mugabe would not accept playing a second role to Tsvangirai, while on the other hand, Morgan cannot be second to Mugabe," says Gordon Moyo, director of Bulawayo Agenda, a coalition of civil society groups in Zimbabwe. "If Mugabe remains at the helm, there will not be a solution to the country's problems. To allow Mugabe at the top is like trying to move forward by going backward."
Another sticking point is the fate of members of pro-Mugabe militias who violently intimidated civilians before the runoff vote. "Not covered in the talks is the issue of what is going to happen to the many monsters who have been responsible of planning, managing, and undertaking the violent repression of the opposition," says MDC legislator Eddie Cross. "These issues must be addressed in the talks."
The negotiations between Zimbabwe's political parties have been hitting stumbling blocks since they began almost three weeks ago. Last week, Reuters reported that three days of talks between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in Harare broke off without a resolution in sight.
And at the end of last month, Time magazine reported that power-sharing talks were adjourned when the MDC described as "insulting" Mugabe's proposal that Tsvangirai accept a position as one of three prime ministers for Zimbabwe. -CSM.
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