Zim parties far away from deal

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s rival parties are still far away from implementing a power-sharing deal, the opposition MDC said yesterday, as some regional leaders prepared to hold a summit aimed at breaking the deadlock.

“We are still miles, miles, miles behind in terms of the implementation of the deal,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told South Africa’s SAfm radio. Chamisa added that Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had no choice but to remain cautiously optimistic despite the hurdles.He was speaking a day before some heads of state from the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) grouping were due to meet in Swaziland to try to help Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF and opposition agree on cabinet posts after four days of inconclusive talks which ended on Friday.The power-sharing deal, mediated by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, is seen as Zimbabwe’s best hope for rescuing an economy where fuel and food are scarce and inflation stands at 231 million per cent, the world’s highest.”People are suffering.There is no food.No jobs.No cash in the country.The country is almost on the edge of total collapse.We want to make sure we rescue the situation.This is why we remain cautiously optimistic,” Chamisa said.State leaders who form SADC’s defence and security body are expected to hold talks on the stalemate in Swaziland’s capital Mbabane today.Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, head of the smaller MDC faction, will take part in the three-way meeting of Angola, Mozambique and Swaziland.South African President Kgalema Motlanthe will lead a delegation to Swaziland, the Foreign Ministry said.Mbeki is expected to brief the meeting on efforts to form a new government in Zimbabwe, it added in a statement.Tsvangirai threatened to pull out of talks a week ago after Mugabe allocated powerful ministries such as defence, finance and home affairs to his own party.Zanu-PF’s chief negotiator in the talks, Patrick Chinamasa, played down that issue and reiterated that the party would not bow to any pressure from the SADC, which has become increasingly frustrated by Zimbabwe’s political turmoil.”They can’t impose anything on us, especially on such a small thing as the allocation of ministries,” he told the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper.Mbeki said on Friday a deal was still possible despite another round of inconclusive talks.However, his effectiveness has been thrown into doubt since South Africa’s ruling ANC party forced him to resign.The MDC has accused him of favouring Mugabe, an issue that Chamisa raised again.Nampa-ReutersChamisa added that Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had no choice but to remain cautiously optimistic despite the hurdles.He was speaking a day before some heads of state from the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) grouping were due to meet in Swaziland to try to help Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF and opposition agree on cabinet posts after four days of inconclusive talks which ended on Friday.The power-sharing deal, mediated by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, is seen as Zimbabwe’s best hope for rescuing an economy where fuel and food are scarce and inflation stands at 231 million per cent, the world’s highest.”People are suffering.There is no food.No jobs.No cash in the country.The country is almost on the edge of total collapse.We want to make sure we rescue the situation.This is why we remain cautiously optimistic,” Chamisa said.State leaders who form SADC’s defence and security body are expected to hold talks on the stalemate in Swaziland’s capital Mbabane today.Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, head of the smaller MDC faction, will take part in the three-way meeting of Angola, Mozambique and Swaziland.South African President Kgalema Motlanthe will lead a delegation to Swaziland, the Foreign Ministry said.Mbeki is expected to brief the meeting on efforts to form a new government in Zimbabwe, it added in a statement.Tsvangirai threatened to pull out of talks a week ago after Mugabe allocated powerful ministries such as defence, finance and home affairs to his own party.Zanu-PF’s chief negotiator in the talks, Patrick Chinamasa, played down that issue and reiterated that the party would not bow to any pressure from the SADC, which has become increasingly frustrated by Zimbabwe’s political turmoil.”They can’t impose anything on us, especially on such a small thing as the allocation of ministries,” he told the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper.Mbeki said on Friday a deal was still possible despite another round of inconclusive talks.However, his effectiveness has been thrown into doubt since South Africa’s ruling ANC party forced him to resign.The MDC has accused him of favouring Mugabe, an issue that Chamisa raised again.Nampa-Reuters