Word: deal
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...mixed bag of ululations and disappointments, Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, agreed to enter into a government of national unity (GNU) with fellow opposition leader Arthur Mutambara and the controversial incumbent, Robert Mugabe. Whatever the skepticism and whatever the argument, this deal is a necessary evil...
...This is not to say that those opposed to the deal are misinformed. In fact, there is a very legitimate case to be made against this deal. The power sharing deal was initially signed on September 15, 2008, between Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and Mutambara after the disputed presidential election in March of that year. However, Tsvangirai’s party has refused to implement the agreement since September, demanding the cessation of human-rights abuses and citing the unilateral and inequitable distribution of key cabinet positions by Mugabe as a sign of insincerity. According to Tsvangirai, his party would not have...
...spite of these apparent improvements to the deal, opponents argue that it provides Mugabe with a political lifeline and could potentially sink Tsvangirai and the opposition into political oblivion. Here, history is not on Tsvangirai's side. For example, following catastrophic political disturbances in 1987, Mugabe’s party, ZANU, signed a Unity Accord with the then opposition leader Joshua Nkomo’s party, ZAPU. Although this accord led to the end of political violence, many perpetrators went largely unpunished while Nkomo and his party took largely ceremonial roles in the new government setup. For these reasons...
Democrats had hoped to vote on the measure Friday. Indeed, Senator Ted Kennedy, who is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, was prepared to return to Washington to cast his vote in support. But Republicans said they wanted more time to examine the deal and passage looks unlikely until Tuesday afternoon. "No action is not what any of my Republican colleagues are advocating, but most of us are deeply skeptical that this will work," Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said announcing his opposition to the measure. "And that level of skepticism leads us to believe that this course of action...
Most of the cuts that led to the deal - about $85 billion - came from reduced spending on school construction (a $19 billion proposal was zeroed out), teacher funding and higher education. The negotiators also cut provisions that the Congressional Budget Office said diffused less than 10% of funds into the economy within 18 months - for example, shrinking Head Start and a program to make federal buildings more energy efficient. "The Democrats wanted to see a lot of education funding and the Republicans generally argued that the programs, while worthwhile, should go through the regular appropriations process," Collins said...