(Adds Mugabe comment, parliament postponed, S.Africa minister) By Cris Chinaka HARARE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean police broke up an anti-government protest with teargas and batons on Tuesday and detained the leader of the group behind the demonstration, the group said. The crackdown came as hopes fade in Zimbabwe that a power-sharing deal agreed in September between veteran President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will end the ruinous political and economic crisis. Mugabe looked certain to press ahead with setting up a new government soon after a regional summit called for the immediate installation of a new administration. He said on Tuesday a new government could be formed as early as this week. "We will try to institute the decisions reached by the summit as quickly as possible. Maybe this week, maybe next week, but as soon as possible," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Herald newspaper. State television said Mugabe would chair an extraordinary meeting of his ZANU-PF party's decision-making politburo on Wednesday to discuss the SADC resolution -- a firm step towards naming a new cabinet. The police crackdown on protestors was the first such action in several weeks. The National Constitutional Assembly pressure group said its chairman Lovemore Madhuku had been detained ahead of the protests to demand political reform from Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980. There was no immediate comment from police or government officials. Riot police later fired teargas and used batons to break up a protest by about 40 activists from Madhuku's group in Harare. Pursuing the protesters, police dispersed queues of Zimbabweans waiting to withdraw money from banks, witnesses said. CABINET DEADLOCK Zimbabweans had hoped the Sept. 15 power-sharing deal would ease political tensions and create a united leadership that could rescue the ruined economy. Instead, Zimbabwe's parties are deadlocked over allocating cabinet ministries. A regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit failed to break the deadlock at the weekend when leaders asked Mugabe and Tsvangirai to share the powerful home affairs ministry, a demand swiftly rejected by the opposition leader. The Zimbabwean parliament broke off for a month on Tuesday, delaying a national budget and proposed constitutional changes which will allow the formation of a power-sharing government. MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese told Reuters the parliamentary break highlighted a crisis brought about by the failure of both parties to form a unity government. "This almost certainly means there will not be any budget presentation this year. It also means they (Mugabe's government) will not be able to bring the Constitutional Amendment bill to parliament anytime soon," Gonese said. But the government said Mugabe would proceed to form an "inclusive" government, even before parliament amended the constitution. "The (constitutional) amendment has not yet been drafted, but the (SADC) summit enjoined us to move with haste to form a government," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told Reuters. "We will abide by their resolution." South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Tuesday it was crucial for Zimbabweans to have a government. "You cannot keep the suffering people of Zimbabwe at ransom at the altar of the ministry of home affairs, it is important to begin the process that will change the life of the people of Zimbabwe because they have been suffering for a long time," Dlamini-Zuma told reporters in Brussels. She said an imperfect government can be changed but stressed the importance of setting up a new administration. (Additional reporting by Nelson Banya and Ingrid Melander in Brussels; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Dominic Evans)
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters chant slogans as they protest outside the venue of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Sandton November 9,2008. Southern African leaders opened a ...
