Zimbabwe Parties Deny Plan for Formal Power-Sharing Deal By RACHEL L. SWARNS http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/international/africa/14ZIMB.html
JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 13 - Representatives of Zimbabwe's government and the leading opposition party acknowledged today that they had held informal discussions last month about a possible power-sharing deal that would require President Robert Mugabe to resign. But both sides denied a newspaper report that they had formally negotiated such an agreement. Vice President Joseph Msika and officials from the opposition said they had not agreed on Mr. Mugabe's retirement, as was first reported in The Sunday Mirror of Zimbabwe. The newspaper said officials had agreed to create an interim government and to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005, a year ahead of schedule. "There's no power-sharing agreement at all," Mr. Msika said in a telephone interview from Zimbabwe. Despite the denials of formal talks, both sides said today that quiet, unofficial discussions about such a plan had already taken place. William Bango, a spokesman for the opposition, said emissaries from Mr. Mugabe's governing party had approached the opposition in December to discuss a power-sharing deal. A government negotiator said the two sides had met several times. "There have been people, purporting to be emissaries, asking about the way forward," said Mr. Bango, referring to meetings between government representatives and Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition. "But we have never had any formal response." The government negotiator said the contacts were made with Mr. Mugabe's approval and with the help of the British. He said officials believed that if Mr. Tsvangirai were included in the government, Western nations might restore badly needed foreign aid and end penalties. The first discussions of a government of national unity came last year after the hotly contested presidential election. Western countries, which had already cut off most aid to Zimbabwe, said the election had been rigged. African leaders had pushed the political rivals to find a way to govern together. Those talks collapsed after the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, challenged Mr. Mugabe's victory in court. Now it seems that the dire economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe has pushed the political rivals to start talking again. The combination of severe drought and a chaotic land reform program has left about six million people - roughly half the population - in need of emergency food aid. Inflation has soared to 175 percent, the value of the local currency has plummeted and poverty is deepening. Meanwhile, the government has continued attacks on the opposition. In some instances, government-backed militants have denied food to opposition supporters. Journalists and opposition supporters have been repeatedly arrested for holding public meetings, which are forbidden without approval from the police. On Saturday, the mayor of Harare, the capital, was arrested for talking to constituents without approval. The opposition has struggled to find a strategy in the face of such harassment and violence. Disillusioned supporters have ignored several calls for general strikes intended to demonstrate public outrage with the government. A power-sharing deal would not be an easy sell to hard-liners on either side, which may be why the opposition and government are playing down their informal talks. Government officials insist publicly that Mr. Mugabe must complete his full term. Some opposition supporters say a national unity government would only legitimize Mr. Mugabe's unpopular administration. It is uncertain whether a power-sharing plan, if formalized, would have wide support. But it seems clear that leaders in government and in the opposition want to find a way to break the deadlock. Under the proposed agreement, The Sunday Mirror reported, Mr. Mugabe would relinquish the presidency and hand power to his favored successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the speaker of Parliament. "Sources privy to the highly confidential plan say the move has been precipitated by the mutual realization among influential Zimbabwean and British officials, with the mediation of the South African government," the newspaper said, "that they have lost dismally from their current diplomatic stand-off, and that a peaceful settlement, which would lead to a normalization of relations would benefit the two countries." The Sunday Mirror is published by Ibbo Mandaza, a businessman and a former official, who still has close ties to Mr. Mugabe's government. ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international -- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
