Zimbabwe rivals sign power-sharing deal
The pact brings to an end Robert Mugabe's monopoly on executive power. It marks the first time that the ruling ZANU-PF party has lost control of the parliament and Cabinet since independence in 1980.
HARARE, ZIMBABWE — Zimbabwe's political rivals signed a power-sharing agreement in Harare's Rainbow Towers Hotel, bringing an end to 28 years of a monopoly on executive power by President Robert Mugabe.
The deal marked a major power shift, with the ruling ZANU-PF party losing control of the parliament and Cabinet for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980.
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change and a smaller MDC splinter group led by Arthur Mutambara, formerly in opposition, together control 109 seats of the 210-seat parliament and 16 members of the 31-member Cabinet.
However, questions remain on how well the arrangement will work in practice, with no final agreement on which party will get which Cabinet posts, nor any final deal on who controls the security forces.
The MDC wants opposition control of finance, the police and the intelligence services but is willing to leave Mugabe in control of the army. A senior ruling party source said ZANU-PF wanted the army and intelligence, but might be willing to hand control of police to Tsvangirai.
Hundreds of supporters of Tsvangirai, the new prime minister designate, danced and cheered at the gates of the Rainbow Towers. They booed loudly when Mugabe's cavalcade arrived, a display of public derision not seen or tolerated before in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe put his signature on the agreement, signing away a share of his powers just after 11 a.m. He looked wooden as the three parties, including the mediator of the talks, Thabo Mbeki, locked hands after the signing ceremony.
The power-sharing deal follows a prolonged deadlock after elections in March in which Tsvangirai outpolled Mugabe with about 48% compared to about 43% for Mugabe, according to official results.
With neither winning outright, a presidential runoff was held on June 27, but Tsvangirai pulled out because of state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Although the ruling party claimed Mugabe won by a landslide, the result was condemned as undemocratic by African observers and the international community.
"This is my freedom day," said Maxwell Maurukira, 38, an opposition activist arriving at the Rainbow Towers to celebrate the deal. Maurukira said he was severely beaten at various times for his political beliefs, most recently in June when ZANU-PF thugs dragged him from his house at 3 a.m. and beat him until after dawn. Two of his best friends, also MDC activists, were killed by ZANU-PF thugs in the election violence, he said.
