Tsvangirai learns from Kenya's experience

UN-mediated talks after disputed polls resulted in a power-sharing accord, bringing stability to Zimbabwe's neighbour.

Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, speaks to journalists in Nairobi yesterday.
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NAIROBI // As Zimbabwe explores the option of a power-sharing government to end the country's political crisis, it is looking to learn from its neighbour. Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, was in Kenya yesterday to get some advice on power-sharing from the country that recently went through a similar crisis.

"We want to benefit from the example that happened in Kenya and is likely to happen in Zimbabwe," Mr Tsvangirai told reporters in Nairobi after a meeting with Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister. Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change, was taking a break from talks in Zimbabwe with Robert Mugabe, the country's long-serving president, who won re-election in June after Mr Tsvangirai boycotted the poll. Mr Tsvangirai was in Kenya for less than 24 hours.

"In the Kenyan experiment, it has been valuable to know how this cohabitation has worked out," he said. Like Zimbabwe, Kenya's presidential election in December was widely seen as flawed. Mwai Kibaki, Kenya's president, was sworn in for a second term despite protests from Mr Odinga's opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement. The Luo tribe of Mr Odinga saw the election outcome as a power grab by Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.

What began as a mass political protest soon turned into ethnic violence and two months of clashes ensued as mobs torched houses and hacked fellow Kenyans to death. More than 1,500 Kenyans died and another 300,000 were displaced before the two sides sat down at the negotiating table. The talks, mediated by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, resulted in a historic power-sharing accord, which ended the violence and brought stability to Kenya. As part of the power-sharing deal, Kenya created the post of prime minister for Mr Odinga, and Mr Kibaki remained as president.

This would be one likely solution to Zimbabwe's crisis, where inflation has risen to a staggering 11 million per cent and food and fuel shortages are worsening. Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of voting in March, but failed to win a majority. He boycotted the second round in June because of attacks against his supporters, and Mr Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980, claimed victory. The two men have been meeting in Harare with mediator Thabo Mbeki, the South African president.

"Our crisis has been growing for 10 years," Mr Tsvangirai said. "The fact that the two parties are negotiating is a milestone." Mr Tsvangirai said he was seeking the position of prime minister, similar to the position created in Kenya. Mr Odinga has some authority over Kenya's government, and he and Mr Kibaki shared the cabinet positions. "In the current discussion, it is agreed that there will be a new post of prime minister," Mr Tsvangirai said. "But how do you distinguish head of state and head of government? That is the outstanding issue."

Mr Tsvangirai said he was holding out for a prime minister position with real power. "If we are going to create a position of prime minister, not only should he or she have authority to run government but should also have powers to drive government," he said. "One cannot be a junior partner to another. It is not the sharing of position but it is the sharing of power." There should be a role for Mr Mugabe in the new government, Mr Tsvangirai said.

"The will of the people as expressed on March 29 puts the burden on the MDC to lead government, but President Mugabe has a role to lead the country from where we are to where we will be," he said. As Mr Tsvangirai was consulting in Kenya, a move to convene Zimbabwe's parliament threatened to derail the power-sharing talks. Mr Tsvangirai said that Mr Mugabe's intention to open parliament on Tuesday was a "repudiation" of the memorandum of understanding signed at the beginning of the talks.

"If President Mugabe goes ahead to convene parliament, appoint a new cabinet, it means he is proceeding to violate the conditions of the MOU, which means he may have abandoned the basis for the talks," Mr Tsvangirai said. "But we don't know what his intentions are." The MDC and a breakaway faction of the party hold 110 seats in parliament, a majority for the first time since the ruling Zanu-PF came to power in 1980. mbrown@thenational.ae