Agreement to form a power sharing government signed

President Robert Mugabe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara formally signed an agreement to form a power sharing government on 15 September 2008. Key points in the deal are as follows: Mugabe will retain the presidency with control over the government and the Cabinet; Tsvangirai will be appointed executive prime minister with control over the Council of Ministers and will be deputy chairman of the Cabinet; Mugabe’s ZANU-PF will control 15 Cabinet positions, the MDC will control 14 and Mutambara’s MDC faction will receive three Cabinet positions; a new constitution will be drafted; and all leaders will work toward the lifting of Western sanctions and the creation of an “open media environment.” Mugabe and Tsvangirai are still negotiating the allocation of the country’s 31 ministries; an announcement on this decision is expected later in the week. The historic deal -- which saw Mugabe relinquish his dictatorial hold on power for the first time in 28 years -- was not without incident, however. MDC and ZANU-PF supporters initially threw rocks at each other outside of the location where the deal was to be signed and reportedly broke through the gates of the convention center. Anti-riot police officers fired shots into the air to calm the crowd. No injuries were reported. The international community has been cautious in its response to the new deal. Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, have expressed skepticism over the deal, and have stated that they will not lift sanctions or release much-needed economic aid to Zimbabwe until there is ample evidence of the deal’s successful implementation. The African Union (AU), however, is underwriting the deal. Reports indicate that nine African heads of state attended the signing ceremony in a show of support.