Source: Zimbabwe rivals bicker over power

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's president and newly appointed prime minister are at loggerheads over ministerial appointments, three days after signing a power-sharing deal.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF wants to head key ministries, such as defense, finance, justice, information and home affairs -- which oversees the national police, a source close to the discussions told CNN on Thursday.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has been offered "insignificant" ministries, such as correctional services, the source said.

The two leaders were originally scheduled to meet Tuesday but eventually conferred for a few hours on Thursday before referring the matter to their party negotiators.

The power-sharing deal signed Monday stipulates that ZANU-PF will have 15 ministers in the council and the MDC will have 13. Arthur Mutambara's MDC splinter group will have three.

After the signing ceremony, Mugabe told his party that the deal was a humiliation but was necessary because of the party's dismal performance during the March 29 elections, in which the MDC got the most votes.

The weekend before the deal was officially signed, the MDC's national council resolved that Tsvangirai should not sign the deal until the issue of the ministries had been resolved.

But with the world and the continent's eyes on the occasion, Tsvangirai went ahead and signed anyway. Watch leaders join hands at signing ceremony »

Under the power-sharing agreement, Mugabe will chair the Cabinet and Tsvangirai, as prime minister, will be responsible for policy formulation and implementation and will preside over a council of ministers.

Zimbabwe has had no Cabinet since the March presidential election that started the current political impasse.

The Cabinet and council of ministers will confer on government affairs and policy issues, according to the agreement. The Cabinet will be the policy-making body and the council of ministers will be a liaison platform.

Mugabe will be in charge of all state security affairs. Tsvangirai will supervise all ministers and deal with day-to-day government issues and will head government business in parliament.

The deal ended months of waiting for a country torn apart after the presidential vote in March.

Tsvangirai collected the most votes in that election, but not enough to avoid a runoff, according to the government's official count. He withdrew from the June 27 runoff days before the vote, saying Mugabe's supporters had waged a campaign of violence and intimidation against opposition supporters.

Regardless of the details of the deal, the main issue facing the leaders now is how to resuscitate Zimbabwe's freefalling economy.

The once prosperous nation now has the world's highest inflation -- officially at 11.2 million percent.

The country is experiencing acute shortages of foreign currency, fuel, electricity, medicines, and basic food such as corn meal, milk, and bread. More than 5 million people out of a population of about 13 million are said to have fled the country.

Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced a $1,000 note ($10 trillion in the old value) as the country battles to end cash shortages in the hyper-inflationary environment.

However, analysts say the new note -- which can only buy a loaf of bread -- will not ease pressure on cash shortages because of the ever-increasing prices.

"It will not make even a small impact. What we need in Zimbabwe is a clear change of policies, start production and then inflation will start easing up," said John Robertson, an economic consultant. "The zeros seem to be coming back no matter how often they slash them."

All About Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai