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Power Sharing Agreement Falters in Zimbabwe
February 17, 2010
By: Benjamin Russell | Printer Friendly

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe violated the terms of his power-sharing agreement with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, earlier this month, when he requested that cabinet ministers report directly to the two vice-presidents of his Zanu PF party. 

Mugabe, who refused to cede power to Tsvangirai after losing a presidential election in 2008, claims that his party would not make any concessions until targeted EU sanctions against him and his cohorts were lifted, according to AFP.

The power-sharing agreement, dubbed the Global Political Agreement, was negotiated in September of 2008 after a disputed presidential election sparked a violent crackdown on opposition figures.  The deal was intended to give both Tsvangirai and Mugabe equal control over the country’s government, but Mugabe’s government quickly grabbed “nearly all the key ministries and appoint(ed) provincial leaders,” according to the New York Times.

This is not the first indication that the agreement was failing: in October 2009, Tsvangirai said his MDC party would boycott cabinet meetings in response to the arrest of the party’s deputy agriculture minister-designate on allegedly fabricated charges.

Mugabe has been in power in Zimbabwe since 1980 and was a hero of the country’s liberation struggle, according to the New York Times.  His popularity in Zimbabwe has plummeted as rampant hunger, poverty and public health problems have gripped the country.  

Sources:

New York Times – Times Topics: Robert Mugabe

AFP – Zimbabwe Sanctions ‘Must Go’: Mugabe 

AllAfrica.com – Mugabe Reduces Tsvangirai’s Power