Cancelled MDC meeting an indication of a positive movement on deadlock ?


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The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Thursday called off a
meeting of its decision making national executive council that
sources had said was set to decide whether the party should pull out
of a power-sharing agreement with Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party.

The agreement signed by Mugabe, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
Arthur Mutambara, who leads a smaller faction of the opposition,
looked increasingly in danger of collapsing this week after direct
talks between Mugabe and Tsvangirai on Tuesday failed to break a
deadlock on the formation of a government of national unity.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa says postponement of the national
council meeting but declined to say why it was called off or to say
what was on the agenda of the cancelled meeting.

Chamisa said: “It (meeting) was indeed set for Thursday but has been
postponed indefinitely.”

On whether the meeting had been cancelled because there had been
positive movement on the deadlock with ZANU PF over sharing of
Cabinet posts, Chamisa said: “There has been no movement. We are
still in the same position we were Wednesday.”

The power-sharing agreement is widely seen as providing the best
opportunity yet for Zimbabwe to begin work to end an acute recession
that is seen in the world’s highest inflation of 11 million percent,
deepening poverty amid shortages of food and every basic survival
commodity.

Meanwhile ZANU PF ‘s chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa has
downplayed the deadlock over allocation of four key ministries telling
state media that progress has been made.

“I don’t think that the issue of allocation of ministries is a matter
that can be referred to the facilitator. We cannot, at the slightest
difference in opinion, call outsiders to mediate. Even if you are a
married couple, you cannot have a situation where your wife runs to
her mother each time you have a problem in your home. If there is
thinking on such a kind of approach, it has to stop in the interest
of harmonisation of relations,” he told the state run Herald.

Chinamasa went on to claim that the Deputy Prime Minister designate
Thokozani Khuphe has already toured her new office to be located in
downtown Harare.

“I understand offices for Mr Tsvangirai and the two Deputy Prime
Ministers have already been set aside at Munhumutapa Building and
that MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe has already been to the
building to see the offices”, said Chinamasa.

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