Talks in recess, Tsvangirai and Mugabe meet negotiators

Talks in recess, Tsvangirai and Mugabe meet negotiators

TALKS: Tsvangirai holding talks with officials in South Africa

• Makone outed as media mole at power-sharing talks

• Zimbabwe negotiators hunt mole, sell world media dummy

• South Africa slams western sanctions on Zim

• Talks delegates 'demand luxury' - paper

• Zimbabwe talks begin, deal said close

• Mugabe, Tsvangirai 'differ sharply' over dinner

• Zanu PF, MDC negotiators set to begin talks

• Text: Memorandum of Understanding between Zanu PF and MDC

• Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara sign agreement

• Tsvangirai gives nod to power sharing talks

• AU, UN and SADC reaffirm support for Mbeki

• Ping snubs MDC ahead of Mbeki meeting

• South Africa slams US, UK criticism

• Additional Zim mediator 'fake issue' - Pahad

• Confusion over fate of Zanu PF, MDC talks

• MDC, Zanu PF talks enter second day

• US, UK sanctions push in trouble as Zanu PF, MDC resume talks

• Tsvangirai pulls out of Mbeki, Mugabe talks

• Mbeki rejects EU demands on Zimbabwe

By Mduduzi Mathuthu

ZIMBABWE’S main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has arrived in South Africa for consultative discussions with his party’s representatives at the power sharing talks being held in Pretoria, South Africa.

Zanu PF’s chief negotiators Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche, meanwhile, were travelling to Harare to brief President Robert Mugabe. Also Harare-bound were representatives from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction led by Arthur Mutambara -- Professor Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi.

Notwithstanding reports that the talks had broken down over Zanu PF’s inflexibility, New Zimbabwe.com understands the talks are in fact proceeding extremely well and the negotiators will reconvene on Sunday. A final agreement could be signed within days – most likely by Thursday next week.

South African President Thabo Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria on Tuesday that the negotiators had made good progress and were "doing very well".

"The negotiators are negotiating. As you know they have been meeting here now for a number of days and they are continuing to do that. They are doing very well," Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria.

Negotiators from both the two MDC factions and Zanu PF have actively encouraged rumours that the talks were deadlocked, this website understands.

MDC leader Tsvangirai’s spokesman George Sibotshiwe told AFP: “We cannot discuss the main issues, we can only say that they are in a deadlock and that the parties will consult with their principals.

“If the sticking points are resolved then the talks will resume.”

The line trotted out by MDC sources who have been briefing the media is that Tsvangirai was offered a post as a third vice president in a government of national unity. Others suggest the fight is over recognising President Mugabe as head of state.

A political analyst watching the developments said: “It is inconceivable that they can deadlock, particularly over Tsvangirai’s position in a future government of national unity.

“That single issue would be something that Tsvangirai and President Mugabe discussed when they met in Harare last week, and you can expect that everyone pretty much knows who gets what. Only an uncritical mind would think both Zanu PF and MDC would leave an issue such as this, a potential talks-breaker, to the last stage of negotiations.”

The analyst who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity said reports of a deadlock were a feature of every major negotiation – and they are not always true.

He said: “What we are seeing here is a skilful preparation of the people for the worst, then delivering something that’s not spectacular but still better than what everyone feared would happen. The parties are playing a game with their constituencies to appear tough, and send a message they are holding out for the best deal.

“It is telling that South Africa, which is facilitating the talks, has not confirmed the reports of a deadlock. That should tell us something.”

On Monday, New Zimbabwe.com revealed how the negotiators who have sworn to a media blackout falsely briefed one opposition official suspected of leaking stories to the international media in a two-pronged strategy to “smoke her out” and also plant a false story – the only way they can break the veil of secrecy surrounding the talks and send a message directly to their constituencies.

President Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a rival MDC faction, all signed a historic memorandum of understanding last week which discourages the parties from talking to the media in any detail about the talks.

The talks between Zimbabwe’s major political parties were initiated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) over a year ago amid rising political tensions. The talks assumed greater meaning when Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential election runoff on June 27, citing violence against his supporters.

The African Union – while giving Mugabe guarded support after his one-man election – instructed him to form a unity government with the MDC, saying no one party could govern alone. The resolution has since received the backing of the United Nations.

The talks which began on Thursday last week were scheduled to last two weeks, which means the first details could emerge on or around August 4.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com