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A New Cabinet Would Be ÔÇÝPolitical Suicide', MDC Says |
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Friday, 5 September 2008After the failure of the last round of power-sharing deals on Tuesday, the political tension in Zimbabwe is on the rise due to the latest move of Mugabe to form a new cabinet without the consent of the opposition.
Mugabe, holding the power since 1980, claims that the formation of the new cabinet is not only necessary to help the country resolve the current politico-economic crisis, but also legitimate with the empowerment of the elections. To the contrary, the main opposition party, MDC of Tsvangirai declines such an option by saying that the formation of a new cabinet without the consensual participation of MDC would be a ÔÇÝpolitical suicide'.
Deadlock over How to Share Executive Power
The power-sharing negotiations, initiated on July 20 with the mediation efforts of the South African President Thabo Mbeki, have recently stuck into a deadlock over the distribution of executive power between the posts of President and Prime Minister.
While the ZANU-PF of Mugabe and two factions of MDC agreed on the formation of a national unity government, the issue of power-sharing is at stake. The MDC totally rejects the proposal which gives the economic and social ministries to Prime Minister while the ministry responsible for security affairs will be under the control of the President.
The MDC leader dismissed such an option on the ground that "there was an attempt to fragment the cabinet, with some ministers reporting to the president and some ministers reporting to the prime minister."
Tsvangirai further argued that the control of security forces by Mugabe would not change the balance of power in the country because security forces, including army and police, were the ones Mugabe had used to ÔÇÝbrutalize' people. "The maintenance of that status quo does not illustrate a desire to dilute his power to the extent these institutions are state institutions and not party's", Tsvangirai told independent Talk Radio 702 on Wednesday.
The ruling party has long declared that it was willing to transfer no more power to the post of prime minister. "What powers should we cede to Tsvangirai when a deal was agreed to, only for him to renege after consulting outside forces. The party, government and SADC were satisfied with the powers Tsvangirai was going to enjoy as prime minister", said the chief negotiator of ZANU-PF, Patrick Chinamasa.
New Cabinet would be ÔÇÝPolitical Suicide'
Following the collapse of the talks, Mugabe Thursday declared that he would form a new government if the MDC would not sign the power-sharing agreement as determined during the talks. Mugabe was quoted by the state-backed Herald Newspaper as stating that Zimbabwe could no longer afford a situation where "we will not have a cabinet forever".
Such a move from ZANU-PF was rejected by the MDC which questioned the legitimacy of the new cabinet. Regarding the issue, the MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said: "Where on earth have you seen dialogue held on the basis of threats and ultimatum? They want to bully us into an agreement, but that's completely unacceptable." Chamisa further told to AFP: "If Mugabe wants to commit political suicide by unilaterally appointing a cabinet, that's his choice. We will not stand in his way,"
Meanwhile, the current chair country of the African Union, Tanzania urged the two sides on Wednesday to reach a 50-50 power-sharing deal agreed for Zimbabwe to immediately end the socio-economic crisis exacerbated by the political crisis.
September 05, 2008
Caglar Dolek, ISRO African Studies
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Friday, 5 September 2008
ISRO African Studies
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