Zimbabwean Premier Morgan Tsvangirai gestures during a press conference at MDC party headquarters in Harare, Friday, October 16, 2009.
16 Oct 2009

Zimbabwe's Premier Morgan Tsvangirai says his Movement for Democratic Change party has withdrawn from the fragile unity government, amid disputes over the implementation of February's power-sharing agreement.

The former opposition leader on Friday linked the party's decision to "disengage" to the treatment of his senior aide, insisting that all unresolved issues of the deal must be dealt with before the MDC could work with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

The MDC will now officially pull out of the cabinet and council of ministers meetings as well as routine Monday meetings between the leaders of the three parties in the national unity government.

Tsvangirai, who lost his wife to a car accident earlier this year, has accused Mugabe of allocating all key ministries to members of his own party, and blocking the much-needed political and economic reforms in the financially challenged country.

The long-time ruler who has been at the helm of power in the country since its independence from Britain in 1984, has also been blamed for cracking down on opposition politicians, critics and activists.

Tsvangirai's remarks came as the High Court ordered the release on bail of MDC ministerial nominee Roy Bennett, who has been jailed since Wednesday and faces terrorism charges.

"It has brought home the reality that as a movement we have an unreliable and unrepentant partner in the transitional government," AFP quoted Tsvangirai as saying in reference to the incarceration of Bennett.

The power-sharing pact was signed to end a months-long impasse between the two parties over the true winner of last year's disputed elections that erupted into deadly post-poll violence.

However, rows over appointees for provincial governors, the central bank governor and the attorney general have clouded the pact ever since.

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