Zimbabwe's veteran ruler, Robert Mugabe, would defy the opposition and form a new government despite the stalling of talks on power-sharing after contested polls, his deputy information minister said yesterday.

''Nothing is going to stop us from forming a new government,'' Bright Matonga told South African broadcaster SAFM, despite warnings by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change that this would scupper the talks.

Mr Matonga said, ''We need to move forward; we need to make sure that Zimbabwe regains its status; we need to work on the economy. People are suffering.

''That is the mandate that he [Mr Mugabe] was given by the SADC [Southern African Development Community regional bloc] and he is not going to stop forming that new cabinet. The MDC are not serious at all.''

Mr Matonga was responding to a statement by the secretary-general of the main opposition party, Tendai Biti, that Mr Mugabe, 84, would be violating a recent agreement between the ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition as well as jeopardising power-sharing negotiations if he formed a government unilaterally.

The talks on creating a unity government aimed at ending a ruinous political crisis were suspended a little over two weeks ago.

Mr Biti said, ''You will be killing the talks. Once you form a government, forget about talks. It is a disaster and an act of insanity to think that Mugabe can go it alone.

''Formally, we are going to write a letter to the facilitator [South African President Thabo Mbeki] about the breaches that have occurred.'' Mr Biti was alluding to an Mbeki-mediated agreement signed by the ruling party, the main MDC and its breakaway faction on July 21.

Zimbabwe's new Parliament opened this week, five months after contested elections in which Mr Mugabe's party lost its legislative majority for the first time since the country gained independence in 1980. AFP