TALKS AIMED at resolving the deadlock over the allocation of government posts in Zimbabwe have been postponed until October 27th because opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai failed to attend a meeting between regional leaders in Swaziland yesterday.
"We could not justify making decisions without Morgan Tsvangirai," said John Kunene, Swazilands permanent secretary of defence. "We felt at the end of the day the issue of discussing the Zimbabwean process should absolutely be deferred until Monday of next week."
Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democrat Change, boycotted the regional summit, aimed at breaking the country's powersharing deadlock, in protest at the ruling regime's refusal to issue him with a passport.
Mr Tsvangirai was scheduled to attend the meeting in Swaziland with regional leaders as well as his rival, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, to try to resolve how the key ministries in the unity government would be divided.
However, MDC officials said their leader was only granted emergency travel papers late on Sunday evening, which was "an insult". Mr Tsvangirai, the country's new prime minister under the powersharing deal, has not been granted a normal passport for months and requires emergency travel documents every time he leaves the country.
MDC secretary Tendai Biti said the lack of progress during negotiations last week raised the question of whether Mr Mugabe could be trusted to carry out the September 15th powersharing agreement.
"The issue of a passport is a mere symptom," Mr Biti said. "The real problem [is] there is no readiness on the part of Zanu-PF to engage in a co-operative government with Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC."
He added that a full Southern African Development Community summit was needed to tackle the impasse as it "still remains the starting forum for the resolution of this crisis". However, Zimbabwean information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu called Mr Tsvangirai's refusal to travel "a gimmick", according to Reuters.
Regional leaders offered to send an aircraft to Harare to take Mr Tsvangirai to the meeting, but he refused to go.