Zimbabwean rivals sign power sharing deal

Monday, September 15, 2008

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai today signed a power sharing deal in the county's capital, Harare.

Speaking to crowds of people celebrating the deal, Tsvangirai said that "this unity government will let businesses flourish so our people can work and provide for their families with pride." He also said that "I've signed this agreement because I believe it represents the best opportunity for us to build a peaceful and prosperous democratic Zimbabwe."

Mugabe also spoke after the deal. "Let us be allies," he said. "People will want to see if what we promise is indeed what we strive to do ... We are committed. I am committed. Let us all be committed."

Despite the agreement, there was some tension at the protest, with supporters of the two parties throwing stones at each other.

The deal means that Tsvangirai is now the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, acting as the head of the council of ministers. Mugabe remains the president of Zimbabwe, meaning that he is still the chair of the cabinet.

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The cabinet contains sixteen seats from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, while Mugabe's Zanu-PF has fifteen seats. The MDC also controls the police while Zanu-PF controls the armed forces.

The agreement also requires press freedom in Zimbabwe.

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This audio file was created from the text revision dated 2008-09-16 and may not reflect subsequent text edits to this report. (audio help)

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Sources

"Zimbabwe rivals in historic pact" — BBC News Online, September 15, 2008
"Zimbabwe rivals sign power pact" — The Australian, September 15, 2008

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Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.