HARARE, Oct 30 – A southern African delegation is pressing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC to end a cabinet boycott in an effort to resolve rifts threatening Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government, a regional official said on Friday.

UPDATE: Sources within the MDC leadership said they refused to be pushed around by a bunch of foreign Ministers from SADC countries whose agenda was to take directives from Robert Mugabe and former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The South African delegation in the SADC ministerial delegation dominated the proceedings and most of its members were former staff members of retired South African President Thabo Mbeki’s, with former Director-General Rev Chikane being vocal in an effort to put pressure on the MDC.

An MDC source said, Rev Chikane was pulling the strings on behalf of his handlers.

It is believed that DRC President Joseph Kabila went to South Africa and met with former South African President Thabo Mbeki in private before his arrival in Harare.

Tsvangirai told reporters the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) defence, political and security troika would recommend holding a special summit to discuss difficulties facing his strained unity government with President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai said no date had been set.

A Southern African delegation tried to exert pressure on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC to end a cabinet boycott in an effort to resolve rifts threatening Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government, but the MDC has refused to give in on their demands.

Tsvangirai joined arch-rival President Robert Mugabe nine months ago in a coalition to try to end a decade-long political and economic crisis, but his MDC announced a fortnight ago that it was “disengaging” from the government over a dispute with Mugabe on the implementation of the power-sharing agreement.

“We are listening to the issues and the views being raised by the two parties, and we are counselling all of them … that it is important that they should remain engaged in the interest of the people of Zimbabwe,” said an official with a Southern African Development Community (SADC) delegation which is on a two-day visit to Harare.

The Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC) decision to boycott cabinet meetings and interaction with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party illustrated the difficulties of the power-sharing deal and has further delayed efforts to rebuild Zimbabwe’s shattered economy.

The SADC official, who declined to be named, said Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change should fight its cause from within the government.

“SADC is ready to help the Zimbabwe parties to reach an understanding on those matters where they have differences,” he added, but declined to discuss specifics.

A three-man SADC ministerial mission, accompanied by several senior officials, met representatives of Tsvangirai’s main Movement for Democratic Change, Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and those from a small MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara, also part of the unity government.

The team is due to meet Mugabe and Tsvangirai separately later on Friday before winding up their two-day review trip.

SADC chairman and Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila said on Friday he would meet Mugabe and Tsvangirai in Harare on his way home from South Africa, but said the Zimbabwe crisis was manageable.

“(I) don’t believe the problem in Zimbabwe is out of hand. I believe (the) GPA (Global Political Agreement) is the only solution for Zimbabwe to move forward,” he told reporters.

Neither the MDC nor ZANU-PF have disclosed details of their discussions with the SADC delegation. But official sources said they both presented complaints against each other.

Besides refusing to swear-in some of its members into government, the MDC accuses ZANU-PF — which it calls an “arrogant and unreliable partner” of persecuting its officials and delaying media and constitutional reforms that will be key to holding free and fair elections in about two years.

Mugabe says he has met obligations under the power-sharing deal and maintains the MDC needs to campaign for the lifting of Western sanctions against his ZANU-PF, including travel restrictions and a freeze on general financial aid to Zimbabwe.

ZANU-PF also says the MDC must end a propaganda campaign by its supporters abroad, and should ask its Western backers to shut down what it calls “pirate radio stations” broadcasting into Zimbabwe from Britain and the United States.

“We are owed more than we are in debt because the issues the MDC are raising are not in the global political agreement that we signed, and some of them are meant for propaganda purposes,” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told Zimbabwe state radio.

Written By: Cris Chinaka: Reuters