Zimbabwe power-sharing talks continue
15/10/2008 17:36
Talks to finalize the allocation of Cabinet ministries among Zimbabwe's
three main political parties will conclude today following extensive meetings
between Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and former South
African leader Thabo Mbeki, in Harare yesterday.
Though the three party
principals last night would not be drawn into commenting on the status of the
talks, insiders privy to the closed-door discussions said they were confident
the matter would be concluded today, the official newspaper The Herald
said.
The insiders also pointed out that the remaining issue of major debate
was the Ministry of Finance and that a number of options had been tabled on how
to go around the matter.
It could not be established if the options had been
tabled by Mbeki or by one of the three parties to the talks.
Late last night,
President Mugabe said the parties had covered some ground over the course of the
day and they would reconvene today.
Insiders, however, indicated that a lot
of headway had been made. He was confident that they will have reached an
agreement by the end of today, but if that fails today should see an outcome, a
senior MDC-T official said.
In terms of allocation of ministries, there is
progress and a number of options on the matter of the Ministry of Finance have
been tabled, he said without elaborating.
Another official close to the
proceedings said there are a number of options on the table concerning the
finance brief. One is that if the minister comes from Zanu-PF, then there should
be two deputy ministers, one from Tsvangirai and one from Mutambara.
If the
minister is from Tsvangirai's party, then there will be two deputies from
Zanu-PF and from MDC Mutambara. However, if the minister is from Mutambara's
party, there might not be need to have two deputies as it is more or less agreed
among the parties that this would be an acceptable compromise.
Another option
is that the ministry is rotated among the parties. This would mean each party
would second someone to be Minister of Finance for a period of one year after
which he or she would hand over the reins to the next party.
This would be
done until such a time where it is felt that arrangement is not necessary but
not exceeding a set number of years yet to be decided upon.
The final option
is that the three parties agree on an individual with no set political
affiliation but from a technical background who is acceptable to everyone
involved.
A top Mutambara formation aide said their party was "open to fully
discuss any options laid on the table" but could not say if any of these had
indeed been put before them.
Earlier in the day soon after arriving at the
talks venue at Rainbow Towers, Mutambara urged the parties to expeditiously
conclude the talks.
Tsvangirai would not speak to the media upon arriving at
the venue while President Mugabe shared a few light moments with
journalists.
Mbeki, mandated by SADC and endorsed by the African Union to
mediate in Zimbabwe, arrived in Harare on Monday evening to carry on his
facilitation of the dialogue process at the request of the political
parties.
Last week President Mugabe gazetted the list of ministries assigned
to the three parties according to the terms of the broad- based agreement signed
by the parties last month.
Under the agreement, Zanu-PF will have 15
ministries while MDC- T and MDC will have 13 and three portfolios each
respectively.
Xinhua
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