Zimbabwe - unity government

Flailing unity government at an impasse

Article published on the 2009-10-26 Latest update 2009-10-27 10:49 TU

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe
(Photo: Reuters)

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met in Harare on Monday for three-hour talks on the beleaguered unity government that have resulted in a 3continued stalemate", according to a statement issued Tsvangirai's Movment for Democratic Change party.

Mugabe met with his former political rival Tsvangirai for talks to try and deal with the problems that are weakening the current unity government, but few believed that there would be a breakthrough, says RFI correspondent Ryan Truscott in Zimbabwe.

Both the MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF party had issued strong statements leading up to the meeting. Mugabe said that he had fulfilled all obligations for the unity government, while Tsvangirai's MDC said it would not back down.

A number of issues rankle MDC members, including the fact that only Zanu-PF provincial governors are installed in the ten governorships throughout the country, and that MDC governments have not been appointed.

In addition, Mugabe has unilaterally appointed the Attorney General, who has been accused of bias. Truscott says that this is evident in the case of many MDC members who have been arrested on trumped-up charges.

In any case, the foreign minister from the regional group the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) will be jetting in on Tuesday to try and deal with this ongoing crisis. Sadc is is the guarantor of the power-sharing agreement.

"I think a lot of faith will be put in the SADC meeting," says Truscott, who says that both parties are hoping the regional body will break the deadlock.