Zimbabwe Parties Maneuver Before Reopening of Parliament
President Robert Mugabe’s hopes of forming a coalition government with the MDC formation led by Arthur Mutambara appeared Friday to hav
Zimbabwe's main political parties are maneuvering for position and tension is on the rise in the run-up to the scheduled reopening of parliament next Tuesday. The Movement for DemocraticChange formation of Morgan Tsvangirai warned that reopening parliamentbefore a power-sharing deal is reached could scuttle the talks. But the formation is expected to see its members sworn in Monday and attend the reopening Tuesday. President Robert Mugabe’s hopes of forming a coalitiongovernment with the MDC grouping led by Arthur Mutambara appeared Friday to have beendashed – formation members were threatening to jump to the Tsvangirai formation if such an alliance were proposed. The Mutambara MDC leadership had tried to justify an alliance with Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF saying Tsvangirai wasrigid and unreasonable in the now-stalled power-sharing talks. But sources told VOA the Mutambara leadership had to assure its parliamentarians-elect at a meeting on Wednesday that they would not join hands with Mr. Mugabe. Sources in the formation reported a lengthy debate amidst charges Mutambara had signed a "sell-out" deal to join Mugabe and abandon former opposition partner Tsvangirai. There was general speculation that Mr. Mugabe, having recalled parliament, would attempt to appoint a cabinet and form agovernment with the help of the Mutambara formation. The grouping has putforth the name of Paul Themba Nyathi as candidate for speaker of the house, while refusing toback a candidate from the Tsvangirai grouping. But MPs from the Mutambaraformation told VOA they were willing to support a Tsvangiraicandidate. Meanwhile, war veteranleader Jabulani Sibanda weighed in on the question of reconvening parliament,telling the state-controlled Herald newspaper that President Mugabe won theJune 27 presidential run-off election, thus recalling parliament is his prerogative. Sibanda told the Herald that Tsvangirai is merely a “protégé” of the United States and Britain , which he charged are seeking to bring about illegal regime change. Elsewhere, South African President Thabo Mbeki was to attempt to relaunchpower-sharing negotiations once the Zimbabwean parliament has convened, sources said.