Cape Town — Zimbabwe's power-sharing agreement signed on Monday sets up a finely-balanced coalition government. The combined opposition will have a one-person majority in the cabinet, but it will be chaired by President Robert Mugabe.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will be deputy chair of the cabinet, but he will also chair a Council of Ministers, which will "oversee the formulation of government policies by the cabinet" and "ensure that the policies so formulated are implemented by the entirety of government."
The full text of the 30-page main agreement was released by the South African government late on Monday.
In other notable features of the document, the parties - Zanu-PF and the two wings of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC):
- Accepted the "irreversibility" of Mugabe's seizure and redistribution of land but will carry out a land audit to eliminate "multiple farm ownerships";
- Called on the British government to take primary responsibility for compensating former land owners;
- Agreed to give priority to restoring economic stability and growth, and called for the lifting of international sanctions;
- Set out a mechanism and timetable designed to place a new constitution before the electorate for approval in a referendum within the next 18 months;
- Froze party representation in the legislature for a year, by stipulating that vacancies should be filled by a member of the party currently holding a seat;
- Encouraged Zimbabweans broadcasting from outside the country to return and set up independent radio stations within the country; and
- Resolved to take steps to ensure the public media provided balanced and fair coverage to all parties.
The agreement said that the executive authority of what it called an "inclusive government" would "vest in, and be shared among the president, the prime minister and the cabinet." The cabinet would "evaluate and adopt all government policies and the consequential programmes," allocate funds for their implementation and prepare legislation for parliament.
The document provided that Mugabe and Tsvangirai will agree on the allocation of ministries between them for day-to-day supervision. The powers of both Mugabe and Tsvangirai include the phrase "exercises executive authority," but Tsvangirai has the additional responsibility of overseeing the drawing up of policies by the cabinet.
All ministers will have to report to Tsvangirai on the implementation of cabinet policies. The Council of Ministers which he will chair will "assess the implementation of Cabinet decisions," help him to co-ordinate government and make progress reports to the cabinet. The agreement also establishes a monitoring committee, comprising four members from each of the three parties in government - Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations - to "ensure full and proper implementation of the letter and spirit of this agreement."
Mugabe will chair, and Tsvangirai will be a member of Zimbabwe's National Security Council.
Mugabe will appoint the country's two vice-presidents from the ranks of Zanu-PF. There will be two deputy prime ministers, one of them Arthur Mutambara and the other from Tsvangirai's MDC. Fifteen ministers will be nominated by Zanu-PF, 13 by Tsvangirai's MDC and three by Mutambara's MDC. Of 15 deputy ministers, eight will be nominated by Zanu-PF, six by Tsvangirai's party and one by Mutambara's.
In key sections of the preamble to the document, the parties agreed "to accept, cherish and recognise the significance of the liberation struggle as the foundation of our sovereign independence, freedoms and human rights," and dedicated themselves "to putting an end to the polarisation, divisions, conflict and intolerance that has characterised Zimbabwean politics and society in recent times."
The parties resolved that Parliament would pass interim constitutional amendments necessary to implement the agreement.
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Is the glass half-empty or is it only half-filled? It depends on how one looks at it.
From the perspectives of the suffering Zimbabweans, there is some glitter of hope that Tsvangirai could deliver. From that of ZANU-PF, the guarantee about the land issue should reassure them!
However, one thing is crystal clear! The loser of the March elections has succeeded, with Mbeki's support, to cling to a power that had slipped out of his frail fingers! Tsvangirai went into the deal mostly under duress. If he delivers, there is hope that his MDC could snatch a victory at the next elections under a new constitution.
Will the cunning fox leave him with the necessary space to deliver effectively? What will come first? would it be national interest, party interest, individual interest?
As much as a knife in one's hand could be dangerous, the way the leaders go about with government business will decide the success or otherwise of this GNU formula!
Mugabe, however, had a rare occasion to defuse his much emotional empty rambling about the land issue and the West, which he ruined. He is continuing to fuel animosity amongst his supporters, which does not bode a constructive approach in the coming days.
Will Tsvangirai be able to circumvent ZANU-PF emotional outbursts and concentrate on a result-oriented strategy? that's what people hope so.
International observers are uneasy that Mugabe will still exercise control over the Army, Police and Prison services!
That's very hard to swallow indeed. The dictator being whitewashed? May be for some years. Civil society activists can understand that the top priority for the time being is measures for immediate relief. They are prepared to shelve the issue of prosecution of perpetuators of crimes against humanity for a while.
Civil society activists have a very daunting task ahead - that of a close monitoring of transparency and accountability of the government as much as denouncing under-the-belt jabs to undermine Tsvangirai's efforts !
Tsvangirai deserves all our support at this hour for having accepted a formula that he does not like so much had it not been his commitment first and foremost to the national interest! Tsvangirai, be reassured that we will walk the walk with you on this very arduous mission.
Good luck Zimbabwe.Beware the snake and remain vigilant.Peace and prosperity to all!
I was quite disappointed to see that the agreement signed between Robert Mugabe and the opposition allows Mugabe to stay on top -as the final arbiter- on any matter he chooses - given the gray areas of undefined details in the jurisdiction of duties of the new position of Prime Minister. I watched his live speech during the ceremony on BBC, and even though I agree with him that Great Britain and the U.S. had him on their cross hairs, I still feel that Mugabe is a relic like the late former Romanian leader Nicolae Chausesku and must step down for the good of Zimbabwe. I like his anti-colonial stand against the U.S. and Great Britain, but in today's global economy Mugabe's blunter of taking productive farms from experience farmers, and turning them into people who had no clue of farming, has made Zimbabwe a hungry nation sitting on a fertile land he has turned into a wasteland.
Mugabe proved to be a good orator at his speech, but at this time Zimbabwe needs international assistance, investments, and a rational farm policy to recover from an economic stagnation and super inflation that has made its currency worthless. Good oratory will not cure those ills of Zimbabwe's economy, and the European Union and other countries will not lift the sanctions as long as Mugabe call the shots -even if he does that behind the curtains.
A similar agreement to resolve a similar political conflict in Kenya between the loser of the election sitting president Kibaki [like Mugabe] and Raila Odinga has resulted in a tenuous political situation that has left Kenya is a static and comatose state until probably the next election, and the election of Mr. Odinga as president. Unfortunately, the same scenario seems to have been played in Zimbabwe, but it is still too early to tell what the future will bring ahead to Zimbabweans.
Lets hope that Robert Mugabe has been looking for an opportunity to fade into the sunset gracefully - rather than been chased out of power by Great Britain and the U.S. as he claims- and the re-birth of Zimbabwe will not be far behind. Nikos Retsos, retired academic
This deal seems fair and I'm glad to see the irreversibility of the land redistribution and calling for British to take responsibility for the former land owners.
Although it's no surprise that the US and EU refused to lift their sanctions because their demands were not met. I'm very impressed by Tsvangirai, I seem to have underestimated him.
Dear d_bokk, Better late than never! Like you, many got mesmerised by the dictator with his empty slogans while his heavy censorship and rule of terror prevented people like you to discover that there were other leaders around with clean hands who can rule differently and respect the rule of law and order at the same time.
While you are happy about the irreversibility of the land redistribution, you should now start to ensure that the terrorised agricultural workers in exile be encouraged to return and be entitled to viable pieces of the land. They are the first victims who have to be rehabilitated immediately in order to ensure the revival of agriculture, the cornerstone of any economic take off in the present circumstances.
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