Zimbabweans are reportedly expressing excitement after President Robert Mugabe said he would ensure a unity government is formed with opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) some time this week. The unity government is expected to end a bitter political impasse between President Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF government and the opposition MDC after both parties recently signed a power sharing agreement.
Some Zimbabweans are hopeful that the formation of the new unity government could help resolve the worsening economic crisis. They added that it could also send a signal to the international community to lift sanctions imposed on the Mugabe government.
George Mkwananzi is the deputy chairperson of the National Constitution Assembly. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from South Africa's capital, Pretoria, President Mugabe is under enormous pressure to abide by the tenets of the agreement.
"Obviously Zimbabweans are reacting to that piece of news with excitement because that is what they have been waiting for all along. It was the side of ZANU-PF that has been a stumbling block to the conclusion of the agreement and effecting it into a workable system. It was because of the Intransigence of the ZANU-PF and their refusal to share ministries of importance with the MDC. So, this is an indication that they are now psych up to share with MDC whatever those ministries were," Mkwananzi noted.
He said Zimbabweans are hopeful that President Mugabe would keep to his word.
"People are banking on a number of sectors that are expected to force him (Mugabe) to take this thing seriously because the economy is continuing to do badly. And Mugabe knows it very well that if he takes longer or delays to conclude this agreement, things would get worse and worse. And there is the likelihood that there is not going to be any harvest from this coming season to the non-availability of all implements that are used for farming, and that is really scary for Mugabe. So, that is expected to motivate him to do better than he has become known for," he said.
Mkwananzi said it was about time that all stakeholders in the power sharing agreement should hold their side of the agreement.
"I believe this is a period where the principals of the three political formations would have to show leadership. There could be people who may not be happy with the distribution of post and positions and areas of influence in all the three respective parties. But then if the three principals engage in these discussions are clear about what they want to see that is a reconstructed Zimbabwe. We believe that these remain four ministries, which are the cause of this dispute would be equitably distributed in such a way that there is a balance of power between these two major parties," Mkwananzi pointed out.
He said President Mugabe seems displeased with his own ZANU-PF party.
"I believe Robert Mugabe is operating at a higher level than the people that are leading his party. You can see that from the way he explains to them that he has been forced into this humiliating situation because "we did not win this election". And he actually wanted to throw it back at them that they didn't work hard enough so that they could be saved from sharing power with a party that they had all along has been touting as a puppet of the west," he said.
