AWOL . . . President Mugabe (left) and Arthur Mutambara are out of the country

HARARE – Talks to form a new power-sharing government in Zimbabwe have been put on ice for now and can only resume after October 5 because President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Arthur Mutambara are out of the country.

Mugabe is in New York attending a UN General Assembly meeting that ends on October 1, while Mutambara left Harare on Monday to attend a five-day World Economic Forum meeting in China – leaving analysts wondering whether the politicians understood the need to quickly appoint a new government to fix Zimbabwe’s worsening humanitarian crisis.

Government sources said Mugabe was expected to first fly to Egypt after the UN meeting and would only be back in Harare on October 4.

“Everything regarding the negotiations is at a standstill until Mugabe returns,” said a senior government official who spoke on condition he was not named. “The principals are likely to meet after October 5 to resume the talks on how to share ministries.”

Mugabe, Mutambara and main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed an agreement on Monday last week to form a power-sharing government to tackle Zimbabwe’s long running political and economic crisis.

But the three leaders failed last week to agree on how to share key posts in the new government, stocking up skepticism over whether the power-sharing deal clinched after seven weeks of tortuous negotiations could stand the strain given deep-seated mistrust especially between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

The leaders could not agree on a new Cabinet apparently because Mugabe and Tsvangirai each demanded control of the five most influential posts of finance, defence, home affairs, justice and information. 

The political principals referred the dispute over Cabinet posts to their negotiators who also failed to resolve the matter and referred it back to Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara.

Justice Minister and ZANU PF’s chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa yesterday said the talks to resolve the issue would resume once the principals were back in the country.

“We met and agreed that the best people to deal with the issue will be the principals,” Chinamasa said. “The principals can only meet after the return of President Mugabe. We are optimistic that the issue will be resolved soon.”

Analysts criticised political leaders for moving slowly to implement the power-sharing deal signed last week and in the process prolonging Zimbabwe’s economic and humanitarian crisis seen in the world’s highest inflation of more than 11 million percent, deepening poverty amid shortages of food and every basic survival commodity.

University of Zimbabwe (UZ) political scientist John Makumbe said: “Mugabe should not have travelled to New York at the expense of the negotiations.”

Makumbe – a longtime critic of the 84-year-old leader – added: “There is no time for procrastination. The UN will only become very important to us once we are admitted among the community of nations. That can only happen if we fully-implement the fragile deal signed last week.”

Another UZ political scientist Eldred Masunungure said the talks should move with haste. “The issue at hand needs to be resolved quickly and a new government put in place to spearhead the country’s economic revival. Both Mugabe and Mutambara should have put their trips on hold and first resolve the issue at hand,” he said.

According to sources, the ZANU PF and MDC negotiators agreed during the weekend meeting to recommend to their principals that they refer the dispute over Cabinet posts to mediator, outgoing South African President Thabo Mbeki so that he could facilitate an immediate solution to the impasse.

Mbeki tendered his resignation as president on Sunday after his ruling ANC party ordered him to step down. The ouster of Mbeki could weaken his mediating role in Zimbabwe but could also spur Mugabe to quickly agree to a power-sharing Cabinet with the opposition before a new and likely hostile leadership settles in Pretoria.

An acting president will be appointed this week to replace Mbeki but the man expected to takeover South Africa’s top job after elections next year is Jacob Zuma who has openly criticised Mugabe’s rule.

Zuma’s main backers in South Africa’s powerful COSATU labour movement have long called for a tougher approach towards the Zimbabwean leader.

The international community, particularly major Western donor nations whose financial support is vital to any effort to resuscitate Zimbabwe’s comatose economy, has said they will wait to see how the power-sharing deal is implemented on the ground before they can give substantial aid to the southern African country. – ZimOnline