The office space for Zimbabwe prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been ready as the parties involved are negotiating the allocation of ministers among them, the state media Herald reported on Thursday.

The offices for Tsvangirai's two deputies has also been ready, the Herald said.

The Herald quoted Cde Patrick Chinamasa, the minister of Justice, Legal and parliamentary Affairs and one of the chief negotiators of Zimbabwe ruling ZANU-PF in the inter-party talks, as saying that one of the deputy prime minister-designate has already visited the offices.

"I understand offices for Tsvangirai and the two deputy prime ministers have already been set aside at Munhumutapa Building," Chinamasa said.

The Zimbabwe ruling, the opposition MDC and its small faction have been in talks on the allocation of ministries sine they hammered out a power-sharing deal in mid-August.

Zimbabwe has not had a new cabinet since the presidential run-off election in June this year.

Under the deal formally signed by the three parties, President Robert Mugabe remains as head of state and government, Tsvangirai becomes prime minister, leader of a small faction from the MDC Authur Mutambara and its vice president Ms. Thokozani Khupe become deputy prime ministers.

The Zimbabwean new cabinet will comprise 31 members, 16 of them drawn from the opposition.

The talks on the allocation of the ministries have been deadlocked as the parties are divided over the distribution of the key ministries, including the foreign affairs ministry.

President Mugabe said on Monday on arriving at the Harare International Airport from New York, where he attended the general debate of the UN General Assembly, that he will announce a cabinet by the end of the week, according to the Herald.

Chinamasa reiterated President Mugabe's commitment to forming the inclusive government.

Chinamasa also dismissed the reports from the media that the parties were deadlocked and had summoned the mediator, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, to resolve the stalemate.

Mbeki, who has been mandated by the Southern African Development Community to media in the inter-party talks of Zimbabwe, formally resigned last week.

Zimbabwe held presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29, in which presidential candidate Tsvangirai received a leading number of votes but failed to win outright.

At the same time, the ruling ZANU-PF lost its Lower House majority for the first time since the country's independence from Britain in 1980, but the MDC won the majority by only a narrow margin.

In the June presidential run-off, President Mugabe won a landslide victory, defeating Tsvangirai by a large margin. Negotiations began in July to resolve the impasse resulting from Mugabe's unopposed re-election in June. The vote was boycotted by Tsvangirai who accused Mugabe's ruling party of backing the violence against the MDC supporters.

Tsvangirai demanded the lion's share of power in the unity government, insisting on respecting the results of the first round of polls.

The negotiations were very close to a breakthrough on the eve of the Southern African Community Development summit held in mid- August, but later stalled as Tsvangirai requested to "reflect and consult" on a sticking point in the dialogues.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2008)