Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has blamed the continuing impasse in talks on a power-sharing government on "the lack of sincerity and good faith" of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.
The attitude of Zanu-PF lay "at the core of our differences," MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said in a statement released in Harare after the latest round of negotiations on a new cabinet broke down in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The talks were convened by the committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which handles security in the region. The dispute between Zimbabwe's parties over the cabinet will now be referred to an urgent summit of all SADC's leaders.
Biti also revealed in his statement that the MDC had proposed that key ministries should be "paired" and shared between the MDC and Zanu-PF.
In this scheme, the Defence portfolio (previously reported to have been allocated to Zanu-PF) would be paired with the Home Affairs portfolio (which controls the police and which MDC insists that one of its ministers should hold). The MDC has proposed that Justice and Legal Affairs should be paired with Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, Mines and Minerals Development with Environment and Youth with Women.
Biti denied reports that only the allocation of the Home Affairs ministry was outstanding: "Nothing can be further from the truth," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the South Africa foreign ministry released a communique from Monday's talks, saying that "there is convergence between the parties... [on] cooperative management of the Ministry of Home Affairs." The SADC leaders accordingly urged the parties "to pursue this option."
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The Herald newspaper of Harare, which supports Zanu-PF, claimed on Tuesday that SADC leaders at the meeting supported "Zanu-PF's position that the ministry be co-shared" between the party and the MDC.
Biti also listed a range of other issues which he said still needed to be agreed: the appointment of 10 provincial governors; the composition, functions and constitution of the National Security Council; the appointment of top civil servants and ambassadors; the constitutional amendment which would establish the new government; and what he called "fraudulent" changes to the power-sharing agreement signed in September.
Monday's talks were chaired by President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, joined by President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa (the chairman of SADC), Dr. Sibusiso Dlamini, the Swazi prime minister, and Angolan foreign minister Assunção Sousa dos Anjos. Thabo Mbeki, the SADC facilitator on Zimbabwe and former South African president, also took part.
