Zimbabwe politicians refer cabinet dispute to Mbeki
Posted by African Press International on October 1, 2008
Zimbabwe’s political leaders have referred a deadlock on ministerial allocations to former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, after failing to reach an agreement, APA learnt here on Wednesday.
President Robert Mugabe met arch-rival and Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday but Tsvangirai’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change immediately declared a deadlock on the discussions, accusing the veteran leader of refusing to share power.
“There was no agreement again because we remain worlds apart, with ZANU PF wanting to hold on to all key ministries while relegating the MDC to a peripheral role in the new government,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
He said the dispute had been referred back to Mbeki who last month brokered an initial power-sharing agreement between the two Zimbabwean political rivals.
Mbeki resigned as South African president last week after being forced by his African National Congress party to do so, but remains as the official mediator in the Zimbabwean political crisis.
The deadlock between Mugabe’s ZANU PF and the MDC centres around control of the key ministries of home affairs, finance, foreign affairs and local government.
Both parties are understood to want control of all ministries in a proposed unity government
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API/Source.apa
