Mbeki had been expected to travel to Harare this week to try one more time to push Mugabe, Tsvangirai and another opposition leader Arthur Mutambara to agree a power-sharing pact after a summit of southern African leaders last weekend failed to make the Zimbabwean rivals agree to form a government of national unity.
“Tsvangirai is already in South Africa ready to meet Mbeki,” a diplomat said. “They will meet most probably on Thursday. It is up to Tsvangirai to inform Mbeki that his party has a new position and wants power-sharing talks to continue.”
Acting spokesman for Tsvangirai’s MDC party, Tapiwa Mashakada confirmed that his leader, who has been touring southern African countries, arrived in South Africa on Wednesday.
“President Tsvangirai is now in South Africa on his diplomatic offensive,” Mashakada said, but refused to be disclose more details on the MDC leader’s visit.
According to our sources, Mbeki was likely to come to Harare only if Tsvangirai indicates that he was prepared to reconsider his opposition to the proposed power-sharing deal on the table.
Tsvangirai has in the past two weeks refused to sign a unity government agreement with Mugabe and Mutambara, insisting that he needed full executive powers if he were to become prime minister. The MDC leader wants Mugabe to be a ceremonial president.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Johannesburg last weekend failed to convince Tsvangirai to agree to a power-sharing deal without the full executive powers.
The summit however endorsed the Mbeki brokered deal under which Mugabe would remain executive president while Tsvangirai would be prime minister but without power to hire or fire government ministers or to chair the Cabinet.
However the opposition leader, who defeated Mugabe in the March 29 presidential election but failed to secure the margin required to takeover the presidency, would be deputy chair of the Cabinet under the proposed deal.
Tsvangirai has since the SADC summit been visiting regional countries asking leaders to lean on Mugabe to cede all executive powers to him.
A government of national unity is seen as the best way to end Zimbabwe’s crisis that is marked by the world’s highest inflation of more than 11 million percent, severe shortages of food, jobs, foreign currency and deepening poverty.
Western nations, whose financial aid is vital to any effort to revive Zimbabwe’s economy, have said they will support such a unity government only if its executive head is Tsvangirai. – ZimOnline