MDC gives five-day ultimatum to resolve outstanding issues

By Tichaona Sibanda
6 May 2009

Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, delivered an ultimatum to the inclusive government on Wednesday, when he demanded that all outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement be dealt with by Monday next week.

This was the first admission by the MDC in nearly two months that the process to implement the GPA was slow and was also a clear indication that things were not going smoothly.

Biti, who is also the finance minister in the inclusive government, warned that if the principals fail to meet Monday’s deadline, his party would refer the issue to their supreme making decision body, the National Council, which will meet in 10 days time.

ZANU PF, reacted to the ultimatum by saying it was ‘unfortunate’ that the MDC had set a deadline when ‘negotiations were going on smoothly.’

ZANU PF’s deputy spokesman Ephraim Masawi said: ‘It is unfortunate that the MDC-Tsvangirai is now setting deadlines and issuing out ultimatums. I am informed that a lot of progress has been achieved. Negotiations are not and should not be subjected to ultimatums and deadlines.’

The outstanding issues that remain unresolved are the appointments of provincial governors, permanent secretaries, ambassadors, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and the Attorney-General, Johannes Tomana. Also needing urgent discussion and resolution is the fact that Mugabe is still refusing to swear in Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister for Agriculture, and the fact that Mugabe unilaterally decided to remove the key part of the information ministry away from Nelson Chamisa.

‘Bennett is innocent until proven guilty. According to the GPA, which is now part of the Constitution of Zimbabwe; Mugabe has no powers to refuse to swear-in Bennett after being nominated by the MDC,’ Biti said.

Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara met on Tuesday for the sixth time in two weeks but failed to resolve anything, though reports suggest some progress was made.

Tsvangirai’s spokesman James Maridadi told us on Tuesday the three leaders had also set next week as their deadline to put finality to all issues. Biti did not disclose what his party will do if the issues remain unresolved after the expiry of the deadline. The MDC has lately vowed that it would never quit the inclusive government despite clear attempts by hardliners in ZANU PF to frustrate them into leave.

Tendai Biti also lashed out at the service chiefs for failing to respect the office of the Prime Minister. He said the service chiefs had shown reluctance to respect Tsvangirai during the Independence Day celebrations and at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

Courage Shumba, a political analyst, said; ‘Not long ago, there was this euphoria that marked the birth of the inclusive government in February, but within three short months that has been replaced by despondency. The romance will soon be over unless people in ZANU PF change their attitudes.’

Shumba, who described ZANU PF as a criminal organization trading as a political party, said Mugabe was not yet ready to let go of his vast powers and hand them over to the MDC. He said the MDC mistake of going into a government without resolving outstanding issues of senior government appointments, was the proverbial poisoned gift from SADC and the AU that jinxed the MDC-ZANU PF marriage from the start.

‘You have a group of people like the service chiefs vowing they will not salute Tsvangirai. And you have hardliners who are throwing spanners into the works, so this clearly proves ZANU PF don’t want this government to work,’ Shumba added.

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