Posted by Harare, November 23, 2009 – Negotiators of Zimbabwe’s three main political parties have started talks to try and resolve the outstanding issues under a power sharing agreement signed last year in September.
The negotiators are meeting in Harare two days after a 15 day deadline set by the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security by which the negotiators should have started the negotiations.
Two of the negotiators from the two MDC parties confirmed to Radio VOP Monday afternoon that negotiations have started. “I am in a meeting our meeting has started,” said Tendai Biti, one of the negotiators representing MDC party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Welshman Ncube who is one of the two negotiators from the MDC party led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambaraa also confirmed that the meeting had started. “We have just started the meeting and I am right now in that meeting,” said Ncube.
The negotiations which were supposed to start last week failed to kick off due to the absence of other negotiators.
Zimbabwe’s coalition government is yet to be fully consummated because of a number of outstanding issues that the three parties want resolved.
These outstanding issues led to the partial disengagement of Tsvangirai’s MDC last month. The disengagement ended early this month following the intervention of SADC.
Among some of the outstanding issues are the appointment of MDC treasurer-general Roy Bennett who is yet to sworn in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. The MDC also wants the reversal of the appointments of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and the appointment of provincial governors.
On the other hand Zanu PF wants sanctions imposed on its members to be lifted and the closure of the so-called pirate radio stations.
