There was no agreement – MDC

*Motlanthe's comments misleading

PRETORIA – The national council of the MDC will meet on Friday to make a final decision on its response to the SADC leaders' recommendation on Monday. The leaders said a government of national unity should be formed without further delay, but failed to address the MDC's concerns about meaningful power sharing. 

Confusion reigned after the meeting with South African President  Kgalema Motlanthe declaring: "All the parties expressed confidence in the process and committed to implementing the agreement."

A spokesman for the MDC was quick to contradict this optimism, saying the conclusions of the summit were not in accord with the party's National Council resolutions agreed on November 14 and December 12.

It is important that finality be brought to this issue and therefore our National Council will meet on January 30 to define the party position, said an MDC spokesperson.

Regional leaders spent 12 hours in talks on January 27 in an attempt to break the deadlock that has dragged on in the country since the political parties signed a power sharing agreement on September 15.  All the region's leaders were present except the presidents of Angola and Tanzania, who were represented by their foreign ministers.

The regional body has held seven summits on the subject in the past 12 months, but has been ineffective in forcing Mugabe to share power. The MDC has expressed its disappointment, and said the SADC process was flawed in allowing Mugabe to sit in during closed sessions of the plenary meeting. A spokesman said the conclusions of the summit fell far short of the MDC's expectations.

The MDC also refuted Motlanthe's claims that they had agreed to join Zanu (PF) in an inclusive government and that the ministers and deputy ministers would be sworn in on February 13 with the allocation of ministries being reviewed six months after the inauguration of the government.

"It's completely malicious," said the spokesman. There was no agreement. We will only form a government subject to the resolution of all of our demands.

MDC came to the summit with five outstanding issues that they wanted resolved, namely the enactment of Constitutional Amendment number 19, the definition of National Security Council legislation, the equitable allocation of portfolio ministries, the appointment of Provincial Governors and other senior positions and the breaches of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the Global Political Agreement (GPA). The party has also made it clear that until the MDC supporters who have disappeared or been incarcerated are released, they will not join Mugabe in government.

MDC were quick to issue a statement following the reading of the SADC communiqué making it clear that they were disappointed with the results of the talks and suggesting the likelihood that the stalemate would continue, putting the lives of the already suffering populace of Zimbabwe in further danger.

Ahead of the summit a government spokesperson reiterated Zanu (PF)'s threat to form a government without MDC should the deadlock continue for much longer. Fears that this will deepen the humanitarian crisis in the country are growing with reports that almost 3,000 people have died of Cholera since August 2008. More than half the population remaining inside Zimbabwe require food aid, while the economic meltdown has forced millions to flee to neighbouring countries in search of food, work and medical care.