The Daily Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft In Harare And Sebastien Berger
13 August 2008
Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party claims to have signed a power-sharing deal with a faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] to create a new government in Zimbabwe.
The agreement with Arthur Mutambara would sideline Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the main MDC bloc, who beat Mr Mugabe in the first round of the presidential election in March, taking just short of 50 per cent of the vote.
A senior Zanu-PF official had earlier said: “We, and the MDC headed by Mutambara have signed the agreement. “Tsvangirai did not sign the agreement because he is basically trying to take us back, to renegotiate issues that we had already agreed on. “We are proceeding, and the president is going to form a government of national unity including members of the opposition.” He said his party would not be “held hostage” by Mr Tsvangirai, and insisted that parliament would be convened next week.
The move would create a new government and close the door to further negotiations with Mr Tsvangirai. Negotiations between Mr Mugabe and the two MDC faction leaders have been stymied over the key question of executive authority.
The report of a new “government of national unity” agreement between Mr Mugabe and Prof Mutambara could be a negotiating ploy by Zanu-PF. That hypothesis seemed to be supported by Prof Mutambara, a robotics scientist by profession, who denied the claims late last night. He told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s rubbish, rubbish, rubbish,” before hanging up.
If the report is confirmed, however, it would represent a stunning coup for the octogenarian president, splitting the opposition and reaffirming the political skills that have kept him in power over three decades.
But while it might help keep Mr Mugabe and the Zanu-PF in office, it would do nothing to solve the myriad problems they have imposed on the country.
As such it would be a humiliation for Thabo Mbeki, the South African president tasked with mediating the talks between the government and the opposition. He has long been accused by critics of being too soft on Mr Mugabe, and if he presides over an agreement that excludes Mr Tsvangirai, his hopes for any legacy as an African statesman will be over.
It would also do nothing to help Zimbabwe’s beleaguered economy, which is ravaged by hyperinflation and in desperate need of aid and investment.
Western countries have hinted at a multi-billion-pound reconstruction package if Mr Mugabe accepts a genuine power sharing government. But any deal that cut Mr Tsvangirai out would eliminate the prospect of foreign aid.
Key members of Prof Mutambara’s own faction, which split off in 2005, last night denounced any deal along the reported lines, saying that none of them had been consulted.
“If this has happened I don’t agree,” said Abednico Bhebe, from southern Matabeleland and one of the faction’s 10 members of parliament. “This will be disastrous. None of us will go with him. He would be committing political suicide.”
David Coltart, who represents Bulawayo in the senate, said: “If that happened I don’t agree and I doubt the majority of our executive would support that decision.”
The talks between Zanu-PF and the main MDC faction had broken off earlier in the day. Mr Tsvangirai left looking grim-faced but Tendai Biti, his secretary-general and chief negotiator, said: “The talks have not collapsed. It’s just a time out. There is nothing that cannot be overcome.”