Revealed: Details of Zimbabwe’s new power-sharing agreement

To what extent does the pact signed by Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and the leader of the opposition resemble the accord signed between Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga in February this year?

The details of the deal struck between President Robert Mugabe and leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Morgan Tsvangirai had not been released as we went to press.

But sources told The EastAfrican that one of the key planks in the power sharing agreement signed by the protagonists is a provision that prohibits by-elections.

Thus, in the event that a Member of Parliament dies, resigns or defects, the party that won that specific seat in the first place will be allowed to nominate a replacement.

What this means is that the parliamentary strengths of the two parties cannot be altered during the life of the coalition government.

In Kenya, political temperatures rose dramatically when in the middle of the power-sharing negotiations, two members of Mr Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Party (ODM), were murdered.

In the ensuing by-elections, President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) won the Embakasi parliamentary seat that was earlier held by the late Melitus Were of ODM.

Clearly, the negotiating parties in the Zimbabwean power-sharing deal have sealed a major loophole.

The other centrepieces in the pact are the following. Tsvangirai will be appointed prime minister with the powers to chair Cabinet meetings and to deputise when Mugabe is on the chair.

The prime minister will be responsible for supervising and implementing government policy and will sit in the Joint Operations Command (JOC).

The power to sit in the JOC is especially critical considering its place in the whole power equation. This is a national security body made up of the army, the police, prisons and chiefs of the Central Intelligence Organisation.

Currently, its members include Gen Constantine Chiwenga, Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri amd Prisons Commander General (retired) Pradazal Zinandi.

In the past, this institution has been resistant to the idea of accommodating Tsvangirai in a power-sharing deal. Days before the March 29 elections, they put out a statement saying that they would not salute Tsvangirai in the unfortunate event that he won the elections.

Unlike Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe will also be the leader of government business in parliament.

In terms of ministerial portfolios, the pact has reportedly proposed a 31-member Cabinet, with Mugabe’s Zanu-PF to be alloted 15 ministers and eight deputies and the MDC taking 13 ministers and 6 deputies.