Mugabe hopes unity government will lead to 'new chapter'

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Posted to the web: 27/01/2009 17:52:11
ZIMBABWE'S President Robert Mugabe said Tuesday he hoped that a power-sharing agreement with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would lead to a "new chapter."

"We hope that this will open a up a new chapter in our political relations in the country and in structures of government," Mugabe said in remarks at the Harare International Airport on arriving from a regional emergency summit on Zimbabwe held in South Africa.

"We agreed that an inclusive government should be formed. Dates have been stipulated for the various acts... starting with swearing-in of the top people, the prime minister, deputy prime ministers and ministers," Mugabe told state-run television.

"We will look at the concerns that the MDC raised regarding governors and other appointments."

Mugabe also said he hoped a parliamentary amendment would "lead to the legalisation of the agreement."

Southern African leaders Tuesday laid out a timeline for the formation of a long-awaited national unity government sharing power between veteran Mugabe and political foe Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The MDC said that Southern African Development Community decisions fell "far short of our expectations."

Although the MDC declined to say if it rejected or accepted the outcome of the summit, for the first time it indicated that it would subject the decisions to the final say of its highest decision-making body, which meets on Friday.

Some of the demands include equitable allocation of ministries, the appointment of key government positions, the release of activists and opposition members being detained, and a definition of national Security Council legislation.

Since last March after the elections, Zimbabwe has plunged deeper into economic crisis with massive unemployment, crippling hyper-inflation, a cholera epidemic and half its population dependent on food aid.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a smaller MDC faction, signed the power-sharing deal in September, but disagreements over the allocation of posts have stalled the formation of a national unity government. - AFP
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