After Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai failed to reach a deal on forming a unity government on Monday, the ZANU PF leader told reporters ‘we will continue to discuss here at home and we shall continue exchanging ideas.’
Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa said the MDC felt there was nothing to be discussed since ZANU PF have failed to show any signs that they are serious on finding a lasting solution to the crisis.
‘An invitation was extended yesterday (Tuesday) but the MDC have said no to it. The MDC insists they can’t be seen entertaining ZANU PF when 30 of their activists are still languishing in prison for no apparent reason, after they were abducted from their homes on trumped up charges’ Muchemwa said.
He added; ‘The MDC is strategizing for next week’s summit, although they remain doubtful another meeting would rescue the fragile power-sharing pact.’
The summit in Harare on Monday was brokered by a team from SADC and was aimed at ending the four-month impasse between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and Tsvangirai’s MDC on the implementation of the September power-sharing accord. South African President Kgalema Motlanthe led the team, which also included Thabo Mbeki, SADC’s official mediator, and Mozambican President Armando Guebuza.
Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to try again to break the deadlock, at a summit in either Botswana or South Africa next week held by the regional bloc.
Some observers believe a unity government is the best chance of preventing the total collapse of the country, where prices double every day and the rate of inflation is the highest in the world. Others fear that it would be the end of the MDC, because Mugabe would ensure that he just held on to power and would block any effective change they tried to initiate.
SW Radio Africa