Afran : Zimbabwe deputy PM support MDC-T in unity government disputes
on 2009/10/20 13:41:18
Afran

HARARE, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara's party is in total support of the decision taken by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democracy Change (MDC-T) to disengage from cabinet but will continue to attend cabinet meetings to prevent the Zanu-PF party led by President Robert Mugabe from passing unsound policies, Mutambara said on Monday.

He told a media conference that his party would try to bring President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai to the negotiating table to come up with a workable solution to save the inclusive government from collapse.

"We understand why they (MDC-T) are upset," Mutambara said.

"As a party, we are equally upset and disgusted. But we hold the balance of power in the inclusive government and we are going to make sure we promote dialogue between the three parties."

Mutambara, who has accused the Zanu-PF party of deliberately refusing to fulfill provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by the three parties last year, said he has met Tsvangirai on the issue and is due to meet President Mugabe on Monday to discuss what he termed a "constitutional crisis" that has unfolded in country.

He said President Mugabe needs to appreciate that he could not govern the country alone, neither could any one of the parties to the inclusive government.

"We need to maintain the threesome in the government. None of us can run the country on their own," he said.

Mutambara said his party would soon convene a national council meeting to decide on the course to take, adding the party would not hesitate to pull out of cabinet if the council said so.

He said the incarceration last week of MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett was uncalled for and provocative, adding a better way of handling the case could have been pursued, including tightening bail conditions.

He dismissed as "fiction" the argument by the Zanu-PF that all the outstanding issues being referred to by the MDC-T and MDC-M are not part of the GPA.

He said the issues have to be resolved as they are included in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) communiqué of January 27 that gave birth to the inclusive government.

"Without the communiqué we could not have formed a government in this country," he said.

The inclusive government has brought political and economic stability in the country, hence should not be left to collapse, Mutambara added.

The formation of the inclusive government in February this year has raised hope for many people, resulting in the availability of basic commodities on the market and renewing confidence in the country's economic performance.

Zimbabweans now wait to see what will happen next, and how Mugabe and his party will react.

Tsvangirai told a press conference at his party's headquarters on Friday that ministers from his party would no longer participate in Cabinet and Council of Ministers meetings until all outstanding issues in the GPA are resolved.

He said Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has proved that it is an unreliable and unrepentant partner in the inclusive government.

He said he will no longer attend meetings scheduled for every Monday with Mugabe, and that his trip to Sweden in the coming week to attend the European Development Day has also been cancelled.

Tsvangirai said it is time for the MDC to assert itself as the dominant party in Zimbabwe, declaring that it is the only one with the people's mandate to remain in government.

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