Power sharing negotiations fail to produce an agreement

The latest round of high-level power sharing negotiations in Zimbabwe failed to produce an agreement on 19 January 2009. The talks between the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF stalled after more than 12 hours of negotiations. The MDC stated that it remains committed to a power sharing deal, but only if it can control the home affairs and finance ministries. The mediators referred the deadlocked negotiations to a special Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit to be held next week in either South Africa or Botswana. The rival political parties signed a power sharing agreement in September 2008 but have been unable to form a new government due to disagreements over the allocation of key ministries and responsibilities. The political deadlock has exacerbated Zimbabwe's economic and health crises, which according to U.N. estimates, will cause more than 5 million Zimbabweans to need food aid by March 2009 if left unchecked.