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Zimbabwe opposition to decide on joining government
AFP - 1 hour 24 minutes ago
HARARE (AFP) - - Divisions have broken out within Zimbabwe's main opposition on a unity accord with President Robert Mugabe, party officials said, as they prepared to meet Friday to decide whether to accept the deal.
"Over the past few days there has been huge debate over whether to join the inclusive government or not," one senior official with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"There are some within the party who feel that we should not be part of this arrangement, but others feel that we can no longer fight with our backs against the wall," he told AFP.
Regional leaders at a summit in South Africa on Tuesday laid out a timeline for MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to join a unity government by February 13.
He had signed a unity accord with Mugabe in September, but the deal has stalled over disputes on the naming of cabinet ministers and the control of security forces.
Negotiators from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the MDC were meeting early Friday to try to iron out details of the plan. MDC leaders planned to meet afterward to decide whether to accept the deal.
"Although there are some concerns on some outstanding issues, we managed to get some concessions at the summit which we were promised would be looked into by February 11, but hopefully we should be having a common position which would unite the party and not one which would divide us," the MDC official said.
Another source close to the talks said the meeting could "make or break party."
"There has been intense lobbying from both sides, with others saying the party should join in whilst others are saying we should be out of this deal," the source added.
Zimbabwe has been paralysed politically since disputed elections last March, leaving the country mired in a worsening humanitarian crisis that has left more than half the population in need of food aid, while a cholera epidemic has killed more than 3,000 people.
The decision facing MDC is whether joining a government with Mugabe will give them the power to change the government's policies, or sideline the party in less important offices, as critics of the deal argue.
The extent of the economic breakdown was highlighted Thursday in a new budget that for the first time allows Zimbabweans to conduct their daily business in US dollars or South African rands.
The decision formalised the forex trading that has become the only way for Zimbabweans to buy even basic goods, in a country where trillions of dollars in local currency are needed to buy a loaf of bread.
But ordinary Zimbabweans have little access to cash of any sort. The UN says only six percent of Zimbabweans have formal jobs, and even those receiving salaries struggle to access their money from banks which are chronically short of currency.
The economic crisis has worsened the already extreme hunger in Zimbabwe, with the World Food Programme announcing Thursday that nearly seven million people -- about 60 percent of the population -- need emergency food aid.
To cope with the surging demand, the agency said it was halving its cereal rations to being able to feed more people.
MDC's economic affairs chief Tapiwa Mashakada warned the new forex rules would worsen the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans as more goods priced in US dollars move beyond their reach.
"It's leaning towards bourgeoisies who have access to forex," he said in parliament Friday.
"The budget should have safety nets for the vulnerable. It has no safety nets to cater for peasants and the vulnerable," he added.
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