By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF and theopposition Movement for Democratic Change failed again to breaka deadlock over forming a Cabinet after reaching apower-sharing deal, an MDC spokesman said on Friday.
"After the meeting of the negotiators last night, there hasbeen no shift and the deadlock has not been broken. What wewant is genuine power-sharing, not a false marriage," MDCspokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
"The issue is about ZANU-PF not appreciating that this isnot an exclusive ZANU-PF government. They want all theministries and we obviously can't countenance that."
U.N. special envoy to Zimbabwe Haile Menkerios toldreporters in New York the parties had asked the mediating teamled by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who brokered thepower-sharing agreement, to help resolve the new dispute.
President Robert Mugabe signed the agreement with MDCleader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday, relinquishing some powersfor the first time in nearly three decades of rule underpressure from regional leaders and a growing economic crisis.
They met on Thursday to try to sort out who gets whichposts in the Cabinet.
The deal with Tsvangirai and the head of a breakawayopposition faction followed weeks of tense negotiations to enda political crisis compounded by the veteran leader's disputedand unopposed re-election in a widely condemned vote in June.
Marian Tupy, a policy analyst with the Cato Institutefoundation in Washington, said the agreement would only succeedif both sides compromised.
"It now appears that Mugabe and ZANU-PF were never seriousabout giving up significant degree of power to the opposition.The international community would be well-advised to adopt await-and-see position," he said.
"HICCUP"
Menkerios briefed the U.N. Security Council on thepower-sharing agreement. He described the disagreement betweenthe MDC and ZANU-PF as a "snag" and a "hiccup."
"More difficult issues have been resolved before," he toldreporters after the council meeting. "I believe it is possibleto resolve this as well."
Under the agreement, Tsvangirai, who heads the largest ofthe two MDC factions, would become prime minister and chair acouncil of ministers supervising the Cabinet.
Tsvangirai's party is expected to get 13 Cabinet posts,with Arthur Mutambara's breakaway faction likely to control anadditional three ministries.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF, which lost control of parliament in theMarch election for the first time in 28 years, is likely tohave 15 ministers in the Cabinet.
But the 84-year-old Zimbabwean ruler, who has governedsince independence from Britain in 1980, will retain thepresidency, head the Cabinet and keep control of the powerfularmy. The police are expected to fall under the opposition.
Zimbabweans hope the agreement will be a first step inhelping to rescue the once prosperous nation from economiccollapse.
(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau at the UnitedNations; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Angus MacSwanand Peter Cooney)
