Zimbabwe's opposition renewed a call on Monday for regional mediators to help break an impasse over a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, after weekend talks ended in deadlock.

The state-run Herald newspaper had reported that new talks would be held on Monday on how to allocate contentious cabinet posts under the deal, which would keep Mugabe as president while naming opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.

But the spokesperson for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said that no new talks were scheduled for Monday, and again called for regional mediators to step in to break the impasse with Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

The failure to reach an accord on the cabinet has delayed the formation of a unity government since a historic power-sharing deal was signed in Harare on 15 September.

Deadlock on key ministries

"There is a deadlock on the allocation of all key ministries," MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said in a statement.

"Considering the fact that it is now exactly 21 days after the signing of the global agreement, the cabinet deadlock calls for the urgent help and assistance from Sadc and AU as guarantors of the deal to unfreeze the impasse."

The MDC last week had already called on the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) or the African Union to help break the impasse, but Mugabe's party insisted that no outside mediation was needed.

The Herald said the parties still disagreed on who should control the finance and home affairs ministries, but Chamisa said the entire cabinet remained unsettled and accused Mugabe of seeking to control all important posts.

Chamisa said because of the stalemate the country was "at a standstill and people's patience is running out."

Breakthrough deal?

The power-sharing deal, brokered by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, was hailed as a breakthrough in ending months of political deadlock and long-term economic meltdown in a country that was once a breadbasket for the region.

Under the deal, Zanu-PF takes 15 cabinet posts, Tsvangirai's MDC 13 while a splinter MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara gets three.

The parties have held a series of meetings but failed to agree on control of key posts including home affairs, defence, finance and foreign affairs.

The latest meeting between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara on Saturday ended in a stalemate prompting them to refer the matter to their negotiators.

Zanu-PF lost its parliamentary majority for the first time to the MDC in March elections, while Tsvangirai failed to win presidential elections outright.

However, Mugabe (84) kept his job in June after Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off poll, saying his supporters were in danger from violent attacks blamed on Zanu-PF.

Once one of Africa's most prosperous countries, Zimbabwe now suffers the world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 11.2 million percent, with millions dependent on food aid.

AFP