Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front president Robert Mugabe and his Movement for Democratic Change counterpart Morgan Tsvangirai were in a quandary over the distribution of ministerial posts following the 15 September inclusive government deal.
Though four ministerial posts- Home Affairs, Finance, Local Government and Foreign Affairs- had caused the stalemate, Mugabe and Tsvangirai were reported to have agreed that Home Affairs and Finance could go to the MDC, but hardliners from each party did not agree.
Mugabe’s lieutenants did not want to give up Home Affairs which controlled the police allegedly because they were afraid of being arrested for their corrupt activities.
Tsvangirai’s supporters, including his secretary general Tendai Biti, wanted all four accusing Tsvangirai of having already given in too much to ZANU-PF.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08HARARE932, ZANU-PF–MDC NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
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Reference ID |
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VZCZCXRO8024
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0932/01 2911051
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 171051Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3572
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2358
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2476
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0986
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1754
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2109
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2530
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4962
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1625
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000932
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B.WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2018
SUBJECT: ZANU-PF–MDC NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
REF: A. HARARE 915
¶B. HARARE 895
¶C. HARARE 889
Classified By: CDA Katherine Dhanani for reason 1.4 (d)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (C) Talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC aimed at resolving
outstanding issues from the September 15 ageement,
principally the allocation of ministries, came to an impasse
late Thursday evening. While discussions, mediated by former
South African president Thabo Mbeki, initially focused on two
ministries–finance and home affairs–the MDC has insisted on
an “equitable” distribution of ministries. This would entail
negotiations on ministries across the board. The parties are
scheduled to meet once again on Friday. If ZANU-PF, as
expected, does not agree to a broader discussion, the MDC
intends to argue to the AU and SADC that a power-sharing
agreement is unworkable and that there should be new,
internationally supervised, elections. END SUMMARY.
—————–
Setting the Stage
—————–
¶2. (C) MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed the Septmeber 15
power-sharing agreement against the advice of advisors who
believed that the agreement left unsettled major issues,
particularly the distribution of ministries between ZANU-PF
and the MDC. Tsvangirai and Mugabe had tentatively agreed on
an allocation between the two parties, although no agreement
was reached on the important ministries of finance, home
affairs, local government, and foreign affairs. Tsvangirai
intimated that the deal could be concluded if ZANU-PF ceded
control of finance and home affairs to the MDC (Ref C), but
others in his party, including negotiator Tendai Biti, were
pushing for more (Ref A).
¶3. (C) At the same time, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe
was facing resistance to the September 15 agreement from
hardliners in his own party (Ref B). In an apparent salve to
them, and in anticipation of Mbeki’s mediation this week,
Mugabe on October 10 had officially published an allocation
of ministries that would give the four outstanding ministries
to ZANU-PF (although Mugabe at the time stated publicly that
no decision had been made on finance).
¶4. (C) MDC officials this as a provocation and a
demonstration of bad faith. Biti told us before Mbeki’s most
recent mediation effort began on October 13, that he believed
ZANU-PF’s action in publishing the list represented an
opportunity to reopen the entire subject of allocation of
ministries and to focus on a equitable distribution that went
beyond finance and home affairs.
———————
This Week’s Mediation
———————
¶5. (C) The first three days of talks this week, according to
MDC contacts, focused on the finance and home affairs
ministries. Mugabe agreed to give finance to the MDC and
then agreed to a proposal put forward by MDC-Mutambara leader
Arthur Mutambara that leadership of home affairs be shared by
ZANU-PF and the MDC on a six-month rotating basis. ZANU-PF
apparently thought this would satisfy MDC-Tsvangirai, and the
government newspaper The Herald reported that a deal was
near. On Thursday, Tsvangirai rejected the proposal on home
HARARE 00000932 002 OF 002
affairs, and told Mugabe and Mbeki that he wanted a
discussion on all ministries in order to arrive at an
“equitable” distribution. In other words, if ZANU-PF
received defense, MDC should have home affairs (police). If
ZANU-PF had justice, MDC should have local government or
information. And so on.
¶6. (C) ZANU-PF was reportedly surprised by the the MDC’s
attempt to expand the discussion. It believes that the MDC
is continuing to change the goal posts and this has
strengthened the position of hardliners who are opposed to an
agreement.
———-
Next Steps
———-
¶7. (C) The parties are scheduled to meet again today,
Friday. Biti told us this morning he sees little hope of an
agreement, and that a meeting today will serve only to
demonstrate that negotiations have irrevocably failed. He
said the MDC will then make the case to the AU and SADC that
further negotiations would be futile, and that there should
be new, internationally supervised elections.
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶8. (C) We don’t rule out the possibility that there could
yet be an agreement based upon the MDC taking control of both
the finance and home affairs ministries. In the past couple
of weeks both Mugabe and Tsvangirai have given indications
that this would be acceptable to them. But both face
recalcitrant hardliners within their parties: Mugabe from
insiders who stand to lose patronage spoils and who could
face investigation and prosecution it the MDC heads these
ministries; and Tsvangirai from advisors such as Biti who are
deeply suspicious of ZANU-PF and want a more equitable
agreement. It is particularly significant that Tsvangirai,
who signed the September 15 agreement against the wishes of
his national council, now appears to be working closely with
Biti and unwilling to compromise without MDC consensus.
DHANANI
(30 VIEWS)
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