President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF was forced into talks’ with the two formations of the MDC following the controversial one candidate June 27 run-off election that he won with a landslide after Tsvangirai pulled out citing an adverse electoral field.
Crisis talks between the country’s political adversaries started last week following the signing of a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) between President Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the leader of the breakaway MDC faction.
 A two-week deadline for completing the talks runs out on August 4, but it could be extended.
Critics fear that Mugabe’s Zanu-PF will swallow’ the MDC by offering un-resistible offers like lofty posts to leaders of the opposition as Zanu PF did during the unity government talks with PF Zapu in 1987, a warning that Sipepa Nkomo, the MDC national executive member vowed will never happen.
Nkomo added that the MDC party will not accept any deal that denies Tsvangirai executive powers, warning that the talks would rather collapse or not move forward unless Mugabe is offered a powerless post since he lost March 29 elections post or forced to retire.
He was addressing civic society leaders, politicians from across the political divide, senators, house of assembly members, lawyers, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and pastors among other organizations who attended a breakfast meeting in Bulawayo yesterday that was organized by Bulawayo Agenda, a civic society organization which specializes in organizing forums for discussions  between political parties ,civic groups and the public.
The MDC won’t be swallowed   by  Zanu PF like  what happened  to PF Zapu in  1987.Currently there  is  no  government  in Zimbabwe  but  just  an illegal  caretaker  government. As  MDC we are not going to accept  any outcome  from   the  ongoing talks in Pretoria  which  doesn’t  recognize   the  March  29 elections. Infact  Tsvangirai  should lead  the GNU and if Zanu PF doesn’t accept our proposals which  we tabled  for the talks  we will say chitongai tionesaid Nkomo who is also the newly elected member of parliament for Lobengula.Â
Mugabe and Tsvangirai are under pressure from within Africa and the rest of the world to negotiate a national unity government to end a crisis that has ruined Zimbabwe’s economy and flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees.
Western countries like the United States and Britain have vowed that they would press for tougher action against Mugabe if the talks do not produce a deal that respects the will of Zimbabweans based on the March 29 poll that was won by Tsvangirai.
But the African Union (AU) has argued otherwise and urged the MDC and Zanu-PF to negotiate a power-sharing deal after warning that tougher action might spark a civil war in Zimbabwe. Â
The MDC has said that Tsvangirai should be offered a leading role since he won the March 29 elections. Zanu-PF argues that Mugabe should be offering a leading role as he also won a contested one candidate election on June 27.
The crisis talks adjourned last week and are set to resume on Sunday, according to South African President, Thabo Mbeki, who is brokering the talks.
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