Tsvangirai – who was to become prime minister in the proposed government of national unity while Mugabe remained president – told South Africa’s Radio 702 in a Tuesday interview that the deal brokered by President Thabo Mbeki sought to divide how government ministers would report to either the president or the prime minister. Â
He said: “There is a need to make a distinction that in creating the position of the prime minister, not designated for me (it could be anybody else), one has to appreciate the fact that substantially the prime minister is expected to be head of government, which means that all arms of government have to be under the control of the prime minister.
“But in this case, there was an attempt to fragment the Cabinet, with some ministers reporting to the president and some ministers reporting to the prime minister. In this case, the economic and social ministries will report to the prime minister, the security ministries will report to the president.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader said that any deal that would leave Mugabe in firm control of the same security institutions that he has used to brutalise the people would be inadequate and did not show any desire to loosen the Zimbabwean leader’s iron grip on power.
Tsvangirai said the talks that have stalled over how to share executive power between him and Mugabe were unlikely to resume any time soon despite reports by Mbeki’s office that the negotiations will resume in due course.
MDC officials speaking on condition they were not named told ZimOnline on Wednesday that Tsvangirai had lost faith in the dialogue and that he was embarking on a campaign to mobilise African leaders and major international powers to pressure Mugabe to agree to cede power. – ZimOnline