Zimbabwe Online

Zimbabwe Dollar problem was not cured bu the massive quantitative easing, devaluation and other know economic measure so the currency has been suspended and foreign currencies legalised. A BBC  report quoted Economic planning Minister saying: “There was nothing to support the value of the Zimbabwean dollar,” Since January use of foreign currency has been allowed, to combat hyper-inflation that had left even top-value Zimbabwe dollar notes worthless.

Since the move, consumer prices have fallen for three months in a row.

Consumer prices are currently falling by 3% month-on-month, the Central Statistical Office (CSO) said using figures collated in March. In February, prices fell by 3.1% according to the CSO.

The power-sharing government led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has prioritised rebuilding the devastated Zimbabwe economy since taking office in February.

State-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper said the government had decided the Zimbabwe dollar should be brought back only when industrial output returns to about 60% capacity from the current average of 20%.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has returned to Zimbabwe after an absence of more than two months.

The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is to have fresh talks with President Robert Mugabe on a stalled power-sharing deal.

The rivals will discuss a four-month-old unity government agreement, never implemented amid ongoing disputes.

Mr Tsvangirai says he was issued a new passport only on Christmas Day - after a six-month wait.

He left Zimbabwe on 10 November to seek help from regional leaders on Zimbabwe’s crisis.

The MDC leader has spent much of the last two months in Botswana but he flew home via South Africa on Saturday.

Mr Tsvangirai, who remains prime minister-designate, and Mr Mugabe are due to meet on Monday for talks mediated by South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, his predecessor Thabo Mbeki and Mozambican leader Armando Emilio Guebuza.

The MDC leader is expected to meet members of the MDC national executive this weekend.

“I’m glad to be back home,” Mr Tsvangirai was quoted by AFP news agency as saying, after arriving in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare from Johannesburg. “I hope the meeting will find a lasting solution to the crisis.”

full story: bbc

Both Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai should step aside to end the deadlock, a respected think tank argues.

This could allow a transitional administration to implement political and economic reforms, the report by the UK’s International Crisis Group says.

The international think tank’s proposal would also give the president and his generals immunity from prosecution.

A BBC correspondent says it is unlikely either side would take up such an idea.

The ICG’s suggested plan - entitled Ending Zimbabwe’s Nightmare: A Possible Way Forward - describes ongoing mediations as “hopelessly deadlocked”.

It proposes that Zimbabwe’s parliament - “the country’s only legally elected national institution” - should draft a constitutional amendment to establish an interim administration that would pave the way for new presidential elections in 18 months.

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South Africa’s ex-President Thabo Mbeki is confident he will be able to salvage Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal in talks in Harare, his spokesman says. “We are convinced that we should be able in the end, no matter how long it takes, to reach a conclusion,” he said. Negotiations stalled after President Robert Mugabe allocated key ministries to his Zanu-PF party at the weekend. Mr Mbeki has started the talks, as parliament meets for the first time since August, when MPs were sworn in.

Parliament, where the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) now has a majority, is expected to debate a constitutional amendment to allow MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to become prime minster, a key point of the agreement.

Source: bbc

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has threatened to pull out of a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe.

The MDC leader accused Mr Mugabe of trying to secure all key ministry posts for his ruling Zanu-PF party.

The MDC has reportedly said if Zanu-PF gets defence, then home affairs - which covers policing - must go to the MDC.

The two bitter rival parties agreed to share power on 15 September but have been deadlocked over cabinet posts.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on Monday in an attempt to break the impasse over the appointment of cabinet posts.

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has told his party’s leaders that Monday’s power-sharing deal is a “humiliation”.

But he said the party had no alternative after losing the March parliamentary elections.

Mr Mugabe is expected to meet prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai later to discuss allocating ministerial posts under the deal.

Correspondents say there is intense lobbying for positions among all the parties involved in the agreement.

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Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has decided to pull out of the presidential run-off on 27 June, party officials have told the BBC.

The decision, taken at a meeting of the leadership of the Movement for Democratic Change in Harare, means Robert Mugabe will remain as president.

The MDC says the decision comes after at least 70 of its supporters have been killed in the run-up to the poll.

President Robert Mugabe says the opposition is behind the violence.

On Sunday, the opposition was due to stage a rally in the capital - the highlight of the campaign.

But supporters of Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF occupied the stadium and roads leading up to it - and reportedly beat up opposition activists.

Unity government?

The MDC says Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential election outright during the first round in March.

The government says he won more votes than President Mugabe, but not enough to win outright.

Mr Mugabe has said he will never accept a Zimbabwe run by the MDC.

source/full story

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has accused the opposition of lying about political violence in the country to cast doubt on forthcoming polls.

The opposition says at least 70 of its supporters have been killed and many more beaten in the run-up to next week’s presidential run-off election.

He also told supporters that “only God” could remove him from office.

Meanwhile the opposition MDC says a court has overturned a police ban on a major rally on Sunday in Harare.

Opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, planned to attend the event.

Police have banned a series of opposition gatherings, leading the MDC to say it was being forced to campaign in virtual secrecy.

source/full story

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