29 July 2008
OFFICIALS close to the Zimbabwe power-sharing talks say negotiations in SA have deadlocked.
Two officials, who insisted on anonymity because all parties agreed to a media blackout during the talks, say the chief negotiators for President Robert Mugabe flew home last night.
Another official, in Zimbabwe, said the two negotiators - Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche - returned to Harare to consult Mugabe about their mandate. He said it was not clear whether the talks were in recess or had broken down, but other sources said the teams had "suspended the talks until Saturday".
The official in Zimbabwe, who also would not be identified due to the blackout, said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai left Zimbabwe yesterday for Pretoria to consult with his negotiators.
In Harare sources close to the talks said the Zanu (PF) negotiators had returned to consult with Mugabe on a state post for Tsvangirai. It is understood he is being offered a position as third vice-president to Mugabe.
Mugabe's existing vice-presidents are Joyce Mujuru and Joseph Msika.
But Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) negotiators have rejected that offer and want the post of prime minister with "considerable" executive powers for Tsvangirai.
The MDC would allow Mugabe to remain president with diminished powers, although the duration of a unity government has still not been agreed on.
Last Monday, before signing a memorandum of understanding setting out the parameters for negotiations, Mugabe and Tsvangirai met and agreed that changes would be made to the existing constitution to allow for a power-sharing deal.
A new constitution is on the talks agenda but the two leaders agreed to change the current one to enable Tsvangirai to take up a leadership position and for MDC members without a seat in parliament to be appointed to the senate.
The talks between Zimbabwe's ruling and opposition parties began last Thursday.
Tsvangirai won most votes in March elections but pulled out of a June runoff because of the months of escalating state-sponsored violence. Mugabe ran alone and declared himself winner.
The biggest obstacle to any agreement always was who would lead a new government.
Tsvangirai has said a settlement must recognise only his victory in the March elections. Mugabe, who has survived years of attempts to oust him even by his own party, insists he should head any government.
The agreement to hold power- sharing talks was reached amid increasing violence and about 2000 supporters in jail putting pressure on the opposition. Intense international disapproval - including some African governments saying they could not recognise Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe - also appeared to sway Mugabe's ruling party.
Tsvangirai has been criticised by his own party members for agreeing to the talks without insisting that his followers, including some newly elected legislators, be freed from jail.
Last week's agreement called for an end to all violence.
Though beatings and abductions of opposition activists have diminished, the violence still continues, according to doctors and analysts in Zimbabwe.
The agreement also calls for the government to reverse an order barring nongovernmental organisations from distributing food.
Mugabe accused the organisations of selectively feeding only opposition supporters and has not honoured the agreement. Instead, he recently has made cheaper food available to the poor, but residents say it goes only to registered supporters of his Zanu (PF) party. The subsidised food also is sold to soldiers whose officers are among Mugabe's strongest loyalists.
A third of Zimbabweans are hungry and dependent on foreign food aid and another third of the population has fled the southern African nation's political and economic disaster.
With Dumisani Muleya, Sapa-AP and Sapa
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There must be no JOCkeying for power in the new Zimbabwe
If this report is true, then it clearly shows that Mugabe has conspicuously failed to appreciate his predicament and flatly refuses to open the road to recovery in Zimbabwe if it means he loses any power whatsoever. I cannot believe that Morgan Tsvangerai accepting the position of Third Vice President under Mugabe (were he mad enough to do so) would make the slightest difference to Zimbabwe's economic prospects. only a sea-change in Zimbabwe politics can do that.