MORGAN Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), yesterday threatened to pull out of a power-sharing deal brokered a month ago by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
Mr Tsvangirai said president Robert Mugabe had defied the fragile power-sharing deal with the opposition by unilaterally giving all key Cabinet posts, including crucial security and finance ministries, to his own Zanu-PF party. He called Mr Mugabe's
power grab, late on Saturday, "a giant act of madness which puts the whole deal into jeopardy".
The move means that 84-year-old Mr Mugabe would retain his iron grip on the country after 28 years in power following a week in which inflation grew to 231,000,000 per cent, treble the level of last month. It follows reports that top security chiefs have told Mr Mugabe not to give control of the army, intelligence or police to the opposition.
Mr Tsvangirai told supporters at a rally in Harare: "If this mediation fails we will say 'This marriage has failed to be consummated, and we cannot force things'.
"There will be no option but to go our separate ways."
The deal has been in trouble almost since the ink dried on the signatures of Mr Mbeki, Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe on 15 September, underscoring the opposition's tactical error in failing to insist that control of certain key ministries be part of the accord. Under the agreement, Mr Mugabe remains the president while Mr Tsvangirai takes the new post of prime minister.
Mr Mugabe grabbed 14 key ministries, including defence, justice, finance, information, foreign affairs and the powerful local government ministry. He also took mines – the key to Zimbabwe's remaining sources of wealth, mainly diamonds and platinum – and land.
The full article contains 301 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
