Zimbabwe

Power-sharing deal clinched

Article published on the 2008-09-12 Latest update 2008-09-15 09:04 TU

Morgan Tsvangirai at a press conference in Harare following the annoucement of the deal.
( Photo : AFP )

Zimbabwe's rival political parties, President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), signed a power-sharing deal on Thursday. Chief Mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, said an agreement had been reached on all questions.

Reports on Friday claimed that Mugabe and the opposition would have equal powers under the deal, with Mugabe chairing the cabinet and Tsvangirai leading a national security council of cabinet ministers.

South Africa's Business Day newspaper says that Mugabe would remain president with two deputies, while Tsvangirai would be prime minister and head of government. It says that Mugabe would lead the cabinet while the MDC leader would head up a council of ministers.

But Mbekin said that details will only be made public on Monday, following a formal signing ceremony.

The deal was welcomed by UN Chief Ban Ki-moon, who congratulated Mbeki and said he hoped it would lead to an improvement in the the welfare of Zimbabweans.

The Zanu-PF delegation in the talks was led by Zimbabwe's Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamisa, says that he unconditionally supports the agreement.

"We should, from Monday onwards, march forward as a united people to restore the economic fortunes of our country, to establish political stability, to create a conducive environment for investment", he told RFI.

Correspondent Ryan Truscott said that there would be "an element of cautious optimism" in Zimbabwe in response to the deal, while that living conditions are "getting worse by the day" and will not improve without a political solution.

Truscott says that Mugabe is unlikely to surrender control of the army and police.

 

The country's economy is suffering chronic inflation and food shortages.

Harare-based economic analyst John Robertson says that is because of a "scarcity of goods to buy and the huge wave of liquidity to spend".

"The government more or less stole the savings of the savings institutions and penion funds," he told RFI. "Then, when they had no money left to steal, they had to print money. And they printed money in vast quantities."

But, he added, that the government could not produce goods to buy with that money.