Zimbabwe parties sign landmark deal
Bathandwa Mbola
16 September 2008
Zimbabwe's political parties officially adopted a landmark power-sharing agreement on Monday, breaking a long-standing political impasse, and paving the way for the rebuilding of the country's battered economy, by establishing a government of national unity.
The agreement was facilitated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was tasked by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate talks between Zimbabwe's three main political leaders.
The leaders received standing ovations as they entered the International Conference Centre at Harare's Rainbow Towers Hotel to sign the agreement, witnessed by hundreds of party members, diplomats and African Union (AU) and SADC representatives.
Under the agreement, Robert Mugabe remains president of Zimbabwe, while Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai becomes prime minister and MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara becomes one of two deputy prime ministers.
Tsvangirai's MDC and another MDC faction will together have 16 seats in Zimbabwe's Cabinet, while Mugabe's Zanu-PF will hold the remaining 15 seats.
The deal has drawn praise from all over Africa and beyond. Mbeki was thanked by the leaders on Monday for his patience in helping to resolve crisis a crisis that has been escalating since Zimbabweans went to the polls five months ago.
The accord "marks a turning point in the efforts aimed at promoting reconciliation, stability and fostering conditions conducive for the recovery of their country," AU Commission chairman Jean Ping, said in a statement.
Ping thanked Mbeki for his "leadership, skillful diplomacy and tireless efforts" in facilitating the deal, and urged the international community to support its implementation.
Negotiations started at the end of July, but stalled over the allocation of executive power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who have been bitter rivals for a decade.
Mugabe, who has been in power since the country's independence from Britain in 1980, was pronounced the winner of the controversial presidential run-off election in June. He ran unopposed after Tsvangirai withdrew, claiming the MDC was the target of state-sponsored violence.
In the first round of the presidential election in March, Tsvangirai gained more votes than Mugabe, but not enough votes to claim an outright victory.
The country's people, meanwhile, have been enduring growing hardship. The economic crisis has destroyed Zimbabwe's currency and made it difficult for Zimbabweans to buy basic commodities, electricity, fuel and medicines.
In August, the country's Central Statistical Office said inflation was at 11.2 million percent, the highest in the world. A third of Zimbabwe's 12-million citizens have fled, and most of those who remain barely survive on mealie-meal porridge.
Source: BuaNews
