HARARE, Sept 12: President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have agreed to share power in a deal to end Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

The agreement follows two months of negotiations between Mr Mugabe, 84, who has ruled with an iron hand since independence from Britain in 1980, and former union leader Tsvangirai, 56, his fiercest opponent for the past decade.

President Robert Mugabe will keep his job and head the cabinet under the power-sharing deal, but the opposition would outnumber his ZANU-PF party among senior ministers, an opposition senator said on Friday.

Giving first details of the deal, Senator David Coltart said Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition MDC group, would be prime minister and chair a council of ministers that supervised the cabinet.

The power-sharing deal was reached under the mediation of

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who said details would not be announced until a ceremony on Monday.

Senator Coltart, a senior member of a breakaway faction of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change), said Mr Tsvangirai’s party would have 13 cabinet seats, ZANU-PF 15 and his group three seats.

This was based on votes cast for the parties rather than seats won in a March 29 election in which ZANU-PF lost control of parliament for the first time since independence in 1980.

Tsvangirai won a parallel presidential vote, but pulled out of a run-off in June citing systematic violence against his supporters. This allowed Mr Mugabe’s unopposed but widely condemned re-election, extending his unbroken rule since independence.

Zimbabweans are desperate for an end to a crisis that has destroyed the economy, hitting the once-prosperous country with the world’s highest rate of hyper-inflation and sending millions of refugees into neighbouring countries.

But there was widespread caution among commentators over how quickly the deal could end the crisis or persuade Western powers — deeply opposed to Mugabe — to step in with massive financial support to aid recovery.

The European Commission welcomed the agreement, but said it was too early to say whether it would release frozen aid.

“At this stage, we are cautiously optimistic,” spokesman John Clancy said.

Mr Coltart said Mugabe’s iron grip would be greatly reduced under the deal and Tsvangirai, in the new role of prime minister, would have substantial but not absolute power.

But some commentators were sceptical, saying Tsvangirai had lost out by compromising on his earlier demand for full executive power. They said the deal was fragile.

“The fact that Mugabe remains in power as head of state and head of government means the MDC is the one coming into this deal as a junior partner,” said Lovemore Madhuku, head of a pressure group, National Constitutional Assembly.

SHARES UP: Investors are licking their lips at the prospects in Zimbabwe if the economy improves.

Shares in Zimbabwe-focused investment group LonZim were up more than five per cent early on Friday from an all-time low the previous day at a time when a deal had looked difficult.

London-listed shares in Mwana Africa, which operates nickel mines in the country, also rose 9.8 per cent in the morning.

Senator Coltart, Secretary for Legal Affairs in the MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara, said the deal would allow the creation of an inclusive government which would initiate a process of constitutional reform lasting 18 months.

This process would end with the creation of a new democratic constitution, including setting of a date for new elections.

Coltart said Tsvangirai would be vice chairman of the cabinet. There would be two largely ceremonial state vice presidents from ZANU-PF.

In addition, Mugabe’s party would have eight deputy ministers, Tsvangirai’s MDC six and Mutambara’s faction one.

“If the two MDC factions work together, which they must in the national interest, they will enjoy a majority in cabinet,” Coltart said.

There was relief among many Zimbabweans hoping for an end to their economic suffering, but caution over how quickly the deal would bring relief.—Reuters