Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have failed to break a deadlock on forming a unity government despite direct talks, the opposition MDC party said today.
Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe met for about an hour but remained far apart after the veteran president suggested the MDC would be a junior government partner with minor ministries.
"He wants to grab all the resource ministries like finance, home affairs, information, justice and make the MDC a peripheral player. We will end up in but out of government," Mr Chamisa saidThere was no immediate comment from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.
Mr Chamisa called for renewed mediation to break the stalemate.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki mediated an outline power sharing deal two weeks ago to end a long political crisis in Zimbabwe.
But Mr Mbeki has since been ousted by his own ruling party. It is not clear whether he could remain as mediator for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or would be replaced by another official.
Mr Chamisa also called for intervention from the African Union.
"We are trapped in this deadlock," he said.
Mr Mugabe told supporters of his ZANU-PF party on Monday that he hoped a unity government would be formed by the end of this week, ending a two-week deadlock since the framework deal was signed on September 15th.
The stalemate over cabinet posts has dashed Zimbabweans' hopes that the country could start to climb out of economic chaos marked by the world's highest rate of hyper-inflation.
MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said a constitutional amendment still had to be drafted to give legal effect to the power-sharing deal.
Mr Tsvangirai, who is set to become prime minister under the deal, called on Saturday for the formation of a power-sharing government "in the next few days" to help end the crisis.
The framework government deal was supposed to end a political crisis caused by Mr Mugabe's unopposed re-election in a presidential poll in June after Mr Tsvangirai withdrew, citing systematic violence against his followers.
Mr Mugabe will retain the presidency and chair the cabinet, while Mr Tsvangirai heads a council of ministers supervising the cabinet.
Reuters