Deal signed at freaking last

September 12, 2008 by Simbarashe ·
Filed under: Politics

Story by Lebo Nkatazo (NewZimbabwe.com)

SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki stood before the world media in Harare on Thursday night to announce a historic power sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF party and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Details of the deal that is hoped will end Zimbabwe’s decade-long economic slide will only be released on Monday, also the day reserved for the signing of the pact. Several African leaders and international diplomats are expected to be present.

Mbeki, assailed by much world opinion over his policy of “quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe, made a direct appeal to “everybody in the world” to “support the agreement by Zimbabwean people and extend this hand of very necessary assistance the country will need to recover from socio-economic challenges”.

“It’s made in Zimbabwe, and owned by Zimbabwean people. The rest of the world needs to respect that the people of Zimbabwe have taken a decision,” Mbeki said of the deal which is a pesonal triumph for him, and a major breakthrough for African diplomacy.

Attention will now turn to western countries, particularly Britain and the United States, which have led an international push to isolate the Zimbabwe government, on top of imposing sanctions which Mugabe blames for the country’s economic collapse.

Main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the bigger MDC faction, emerged from a Harare hotel before Mbeki’s announcement to tell waiting reporters: “We have got a deal.”

Mbeki said agreement on the deal had been unanimous.

“An agreement has been reached on all items on the agenda… all of them endorsed the document tonight, signed it,” Mbeki said, minutes before flying back home after four days in Zimbabwe. He will return on Monday.

The South African president said the rivals will also on Monday “file a report concerning the constitutional composition of the inclusive government that has been agreed.”

The parties “will spend the next days constituting this inclusive government.”

New Zimbabwe.com sources said Mugabe will stay on as President with his current two deputies, Joice Mujuru and Joseph Msika, but with diluted executive power which will be shared with Tsvangirai, who assumes the post of Prime Minister.

Tsvangirai will be deputised by Thokozani Khupe, also his vice in the MDC, and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a rival MDC faction whose party was also represented in the talks.

In the new “inclusive” government, Zanu PF will have 15 ministers and eight deputy ministers, MDC-Tsvangirai 13 ministers and six deputy ministers and the MDC-Mutambara three ministers and one deputy minister.

The Mutambara-led MDC’s secretary general Welshman Ncube, one of the central figures in the power-sharing negotiations, told of his relief at the deal.

“Now I just want to rest. I feel totally relieved. Zimbabweans can start living their dreams again,” said Ncube, a constitutional lawyer who will be central in the drawing-up of constitutional amendments to give effect to the political settlement.

Mugabe and his longtime rival Tsvangirai had tussled in the negotiations over how to share power, with the opposition leader holding out for “more powers” — chiefly the overseeing of government policy and implementation supervision.

Under the deal, sources say Tsvangirai will chair a Council of Ministers which “coordinates the work of Cabinet”.

Mugabe, on the other hand, will chair the full Cabinet meetings.

In another agreement designed to hold the parties apart from immediate political confrontation, if an elected representative (MPs and Senators) dies or is recalled by their party in the next 12 months, none of the other parties to the deal will contest against the other in a by-election.

The “inclusive government” will remain in power for a maximum five years. A review of the power-sharing deal will take place in 18 months, and every year thereafter.

Mugabe won a controversial June presidential run-off unopposed after Tsvangirai withdrew despite finishing ahead of the president in the March first round, citing state-sponsored violence against his supporters.

The announcement of the deal was a dramatic turn from Mugabe’s pessimism earlier in the day, when he reported a logjam and accused Tsvangirai once again of being a Western stooge.

“They want to govern… we say never,” he told Zimbabwe television news after a meeting with tribal chiefs in the second city of Bulawayo.

“It is humiliating to be negotiating with a party sponsored by countries pushing for regime change,” Mugabe added, reiterating claims that Tsvangirai is a puppet of the West, especially of former colonial ruler Britain and the United States.

While the political crisis has dragged on, Zimbabwe’s economy has continued its freefall with the world’s highest inflation rate — 11.2 million percent in June, according to official figures.

Once hailed as Africa’s breadbasket, Zimbabwe’s economy has virtually collapsed over the past decade with chronic shortages of foreign currency and food including the staples cornmeal, sugar and cooking oil.

Tell the world: