BBC News, Monday, 29 September 2008
Zimbabwe government 'this week'
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has said he expects a unity
government to be formed by the end of this week.
He also denied that negotiations with the opposition were deadlocked
over appointments to key cabinet posts.
Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed an outline
agreement on a new government earlier this month.
Mr Mugabe will remain president, while Mr Tsvangirai will become prime
minister in a government tasked with ending the economic crisis.
Speaking to re****ters in Zimbabwe on his return from a United Nations
General Assembly meeting in New York, Mr Mugabe said ministries had
been discussed before he had left for the UN.
"Only four [ministries] remain, but there is no deadlock. We will be
setting up government this week, towards the end of the week," he said.
He did not name the ministries where no agreement has been reached but
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is keen on getting
the posts of finance, home affairs and information.
Mr Mugabe's comments follow calls last Saturday by Morgan Tsvangirai
for the power-sharing government to be formed "in the next few days".
Sharing power
Under the power-sharing deal agreed between the two men, President
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party will get 15 cabinet seats.
Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC will get 13 cabinet posts, and a breakaway
faction of the MDC, led by Arthur Mutamabara, will be handed three
positions, giving the combined opposition a narrow majority.
Mr Mugabe will chair the cabinet, which decides on government policy.
His rival, Mr Tsvangirai, will chair a council of ministers, which
implements policy.
The president also keeps control of the military, while the MDC wants
to direct the police.
The MDC says all instruments of state have been used to hamper its
activities in recent years.
With inflation in the country still officially at about 11 million per
cent, people in Zimbabwe have seen little benefit from the outline
deal.
It is hoped that the formation of a stable government will lead to an
economic recovery.
Mr Tsvangirai gained more votes than Mr Mugabe in the March elections
but not enough for outright victory.
He pulled out of a run-off in June, accusing Zanu-PF militia and the
army of organising attacks on its sup****ters which left some 200 people
dead.
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