MDC and Zanu-PF's Divorce Becomes Final?

BULAWAYO (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's political crisis deepened on 14 November with the withdrawal of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, from the moribund power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF.

An MDC communiqué at the end of a national council meeting said it would peacefully campaign against any unilateral government appointed by Mugabe, and called for fresh elections under international supervision.

The party defended its decision on the grounds that, since the signing of the power-sharing agreement on 15 September, Mugabe had pursued an "obstructionist approach" and an "entrenched power-retention agenda" for the ZANU-PF party.

The MDC alleged that this included the "crafting of an assassination plot, codenamed Operation Ngatipedzenavo, intended to eliminate the MDC leadership", amid a wider campaign of violence and intimidation aimed at the party "and the people of Zimbabwe".

The communiqué rejected a resolution passed by leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on 9 November, urging the formation of an all-inclusive government to save the faltering agreement.

The MDC accused the SADC of mistakenly narrowing the sticking points to only control of the home affairs ministry and police, ignoring the unresolved logjams over the distribution of other portfolios, the appointment of provincial governors, permanent secretaries and ambassadors.

The power-sharing deal, brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, appointed as mediator by the SADC, was meant to fairly apportion ministries between ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai's MDC, and a breakaway faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara.

* IRI