South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating an end to the crisis, will facilitate discussions and try to break a deadlock caused by Mugabe’s attempt to make token concessions to Tsvangirai that would only make him a lame duck Prime Minister.
We have consulted with our constituency and we will resume the negotiations tomorrow, said a senior MDC source Thursday night.
MDC-Tsvangirai negotiators Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma, the Mutambara faction’s Priscillah Misihairambwi-Mushonga together with Zanu (PF)’s Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche are already in South Africa.
The Mutambara MDC’s lead negotiator Welshman Ncube leaves for SA today.
Tsvangirai’s chief spokesman George Sibotshiwe said: We cannot discuss the main issues, we can only say that we are resuming talks in SA. If the sticking points are resolved then we will have a deal.
Tsvangirai and 84-year-old Mugabe signed an accord on July 21 to begin talks on sharing power after a month-long election dispute.
While Tsvangirai believes his victory in the first round of a presidential election in March should give him the right to the lion’s share of power, MDC sources say Mugabe’s negotiators are so far only offering him the chance to become a prime minister with nominal powers, with Mugabe retaining powers as head of State and government.
The offer they are insisting on only make a lame duck prime minister, which is obviously a position totally unacceptable to the MDC, said one source.
He said with the MDC now controlling Parliament, it was inconceivable that Mugabe can be head of government.
The MDC national chairman Lovemore Moyo won the Speakership post on Monday when Parliament reconvened. Â
While Mugabe has threatened to name a Cabinet claiming that Tsvangirai was not interested in power-sharing, analysts say he will run into problems as he would not get parliamentary approval for budget votes.
There are fears that Mugabe could dissolve Parliament and rule by decree. But legal experts say the dissolution of Parliament would also mean the end of his term as president given provisions of the constitution that harmonized the presidential and parliamentary calendar.