Zimbabwe’s power-sharing rivals are on course for a showdown after members of the former opposition to Robert Mugabe’s party set a deadline of Monday for demands including the removal of the central bank governor to be met.
The ultimatum is a sign of the difficulty the Movement for Democratic Change faces implementing the reforms donors are insisting on before they will release funds to rebuild the shattered economy.
“The delay in finding a lasting solution to outstanding issues is of great concern to the MDC,” said Tendai Biti, the party’s secretary-general and finance minister in the unity government formed in February after last year’s elections.
Mr Biti said that the reappointment of Gideon Gono, the central bank governor who has presided over hyperinflation and has been accused of channelling funds to Mr Mugabe’s allies, violated the power-sharing agreement.
Regional officials see Mr Gono’s continued tenure as a principal obstacle to unlocking the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid that the International Monetary Fund says is required to meet the funding gap in Mr Biti’s reforming budget.
Meanwhile, civil servants’ pay remains low, hunger is rife and a cholera outbreak has killed thousands.
“The ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe are paying a heavy price for delays occurring at a political level,” said Bella Matambanadzo of the Open Society Initiative in Harare. “We need to start seeing tangible results that enable our country to take full hold of the reconstruction opportunities ahead.”
However, underscoring the MDC’s lack of leverage over the authoritarian president, Nqobizitha Mlilo, a party spokesman, told the Financial Times: “I don’t see the possibility of a withdrawal from the government at this stage.”
Instead, if Monday comes and goes without the MDC being satisfied, the party will convene its highest decision-making body a week later to weigh its options.
Despite a series of pledges by Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC prime minister, the party is still struggling to exert authority even over some of the ministries it controls, in the face of resistance from the security forces and Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.
