Kitsepile Nyathi and Agencies
9 October 2008
Harare — Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Thursday said talks to form a new government under the power sharing agreement had reached a deadlock.
Meanwhile, former South African President Thabo Mbeki said Thursday he will travel to Zimbabwe to mediate over the deadlock.
"We have spoken to the facilitator and he has responded he will be coming." Opposition leader Tsvangirai told reporters.
Mr Tsvangirai said his MDC party had also contacted the African Union and regional grouping SADC over the stalemate and expressed confidence they will seek a speedy resolution.
The announcement, 24 days after the signing of the historic deal, came amid reports that President Robert Mugabe's party is now demanding a review of the whole agreement, throwing the deal into doubt.
The ruling Zanu PF's politburo rejected key provisions in the agreement including the suspension of by-elections for the next 18 months and the distribution of governorships among the coalition partners.
The ruling party insists that the talks are on track and there is no need for the African Union and Southern African Development Community appointed mediator to return.
Zanu PF claims that the dispute is minor as the two parties only have differences on who should control the ministries of Finance and Home Affairs.
But Mr Tsvangirai, who is prime minister designate in the proposed government made up of Zanu PF and another faction of the MDC led by Professor Arthur Mutambara, said no progress had been made on the distribution of all the ministries.
The ruling party has been blamed for the stalemate after its top decision making body, the politburo, rejected key provisions in the agreement, which it fears would weaken the party.
Mr Nicholas Goche, one of Zanu PF's chief negotiators, confirmed the ruling party was already preparing for by-elections in four constituencies contrary to the spirit of the agreement.
"We will engage the two MDC formations to amend the agreement and allow by-elections," Mr Goche said.
"It was felt that the clause infringed on the people's right to elect leaders of their choice.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's annual inflation hit a record 231 million per cent today as record inflation figures were issued.
The yearly inflation figure raced to 231 million percent in July from 11.2 million percent in June.
A loaf of bread which cost Z$500 when the central bank redenominated the Zimbabwe dollar on August 1, now goes for at least Z$7,000.
Many Zimbabweans have resorted to bartering goods and rely on help from relatives abroad, mostly in South Africa, for supplies of scant basic foodstuffs like maize, sugar and cooking oil.
Central Statistical Office data showed that on a monthly basis, prices in July shot up by 2,600 per cent, largely driven by high prices of bread and cereals.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Get your facts straight, the 'outsiders' are in fact the mediator, SADC and the AU. The latter two are the guarantors of the agreement and the mediator did a bad job of not wrapping up the crucial detail before the agreement was signed. Mugabe and his party are trying their old tricks to reduce what is supposed to be 'the Zimbawean solution' to a sham that legitimises Zanu's retention of all power, it is now time for SADC and the AU to step in and make sure the agreement is implemented fully and quickly. The country has no time to waste! What do you want to see in Zimbabwe, a new armed struggle against yet another illegitimate government, and more bloodshed? The MDC are trying to work within civilised standards against a very uncivil opponent. That is their 'failure', not their call to the guarantors of the agreement to force Zanu to abide by what Zanu signed.
I think the major hurdle was cleared with the signing of the unity deal as the major contentious issues were dealt with.,the AU, SADC &facilitator did a commendable job, but now, we've reached purely internal affairs stage and i see no need for outsiders to intervene..This is now a purely zimbabwean matter at hand..
Mabhiza must wake up immediately.
The rotten banana republic of Mugabe is destabilizing the whole region and paralysing the economic take off everywhere in the region.
The Zim situation is now a matter of great concern to SADC countries as well. Beware, Mabhiza!! You will have to run for your skin should a popular movement supported by the SADC civil society groups gets the upper hand over Mugabe!
Mugabe and people like you are the "problem" in Zim. We have time on our side to tackle you should you fail to contribute for meaningful change!
Now , morgan calls for outsiders to intervene..This only confirms what we've been reiterating that MDC-T lacks capacity to lock horns with the ruling zanu-pf..It has to constantly rely on outsiders to meddle in Zim affairs because it has been an abject failure in solidfying its own position and thus implement concrete action purely of its own..That western sponsored outfit has failed dismally to create deep, lasting synegies with zimbabweans & it has also failed to appeal to them.. Instead , it has to rely on protest votes as the sanctions ,morgan &his bandwagon invited take their daily toll on zimbabweans..i really see no need for outsiders to intervene in cabinet talks