Zimbabwe talks stalled

JF says thing weren’t looking promising earlier today: there have been four days of talks now between Mugabe and the two opposition factions, and it doesn’t appear they’ve gotten far. The opposition said there were ten ministries still being argued over, and the opposition wanted a more share in the government, with control of either the army or police, and also over finance. (We’ve heard one of the most contentious ministerial posts is that of Security Forces. Can you explain why that is?) The last election, Mugabe’s party, Zanu PF, had mobilized the army and police in a campaign to terrorize people into voting for Zanu PF. The concern for the opposition is that they need a stake in the security forces for any future elections. (This does set up a scary scenario which each party might have its own army.) Yes, but I think the opposition thinks this is a necessary part of a negotiation. (Even if there is a power sharing deal on paper, there’s still bad blood between Mugabe and Tsvanigari. Will the two sides ever be able to work together?) That is the next question that will follow on when there is so much mistrust between the two. The best people are hoping for is that they tolerate each other.