(NEWZIMBABWE) MDC boycotts cabinet meeting

MDC boycotts cabinet meeting
by Lebo Nkatazo
29/06/2009 00:00:00

MINISTERS from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted Monday’s cabinet meeting after it was brought forward by a day.

The MDC interpreted the move to bring forward the weekly cabinet meeting as calculated to prevent Tsvangirai from chairing it while President Robert Mugabe is away in Libya.

Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, who is also the MDC vice president, said cabinet meetings are held on Tuesday, but they had received communication, at short notice, saying it would be held on Monday as Mugabe would be away the following day.

Khupe said Mugabe was leaving on Monday night for Libya, a development that would have seen Tsvangirai -- expected back on Monday from a tour of western capitals -- chairing cabinet on Tuesday.

“This morning we were advised that cabinet had been shifted from its mandated day of Tuesday to Monday at 10am. Innocent and innocuous as this decision may be, the fact of the matter is that it underpins everything wrong about the present agreement. The decision seeks to deny the recognition of the Prime Minister when the President is away,” Khupe said.

“Mugabe has indicated that he will not be present on Tuesday hence the unilateral decision to move cabinet forward to today. This reflects unilateralism, disrespect, contempt and refusal to recognise reality and the letter and spirit of the GPA (Global Political Agreement), the reality of March 29 (2008) … We will not attend an informal unilateral meeting.”

She added that the party’s ministers have the right and power to reverse anything arrived at during Monday’s cabinet meeting.

“However, while we remain fundamentally committed to the GPA in the interests of the people, it is our own constitutional right to consider disengagement,” Khupe said.

She added that Zanu PF was still persisting with what she termed “business of the old order” and frustrating the democratisation agenda.

“The same unilateralism is being reflected in the nascent constitution-making process where suddenly and contrary to the provisions of the GPA, the Kariba Draft constitution is now being sought to be imposed lock, stock and barrel on the people of Zimbabwe,” she said.

Monday’s boycott is the first significant flashpoint since Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara formed a unity government on February 11.