Posted by 9 November 2009
Negotiators from the three parties in the Global Political Agreement will
meet soon to try to resolve the issues threatening to derail the inclusive
government.
A meeting of the SADC Troika on Defence, Security and Politics last week
gave the principals to the GPA 15 days to engage in dialogue that should
include all the outstanding issues in the implementation of the GPA and SADC
communiqué of 27 January 2009.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told his party supporters in Chitungwiza on
Sunday that South African President Jacob Zuma is to visit the country in
two weeks’ time to review progress.
A senior official from the MDC-M told SW Radio Africa that if the leaders
had the political will, all the issues could be resolved amicably.
‘The negotiators will be meeting soon to see if they can tackle the issues
because there is a time line that was set by SADC,’ the official said.
A communiqué issued by the SADC at the end of the summit urged the leaders
to engage in dialogue with immediate effect, within 15 days but ot exceeding
30 days. Veteran South African journalist Allister Sparks said ultimately it
is South Africa that has the clout in the region to force Mugabe to fully
implement the GPA.
‘It is up to Zuma to prove Mugabe wrong and show that he is prepared to
honour his obligations as guarantor and deal firmly with the errant
president,’ Sparks said in newspaper article.
He wrote in the Business Day newspaper; ‘Doing that is not as difficult as
Mbeki’s apologists used to imply. No need for threats of force or sanctions
or other such unrealistic posturing. Just a simple warning that if Mugabe
doesn’t implement the GPA fully and tries to rule alone, South Africa will
not recognize his government. It will regard him as the head of an
illegitimate regime.’
Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and Tsvangirai’s MDC remain deadlocked over a number
of issues and Mugabe has not stopped the harassment of the MDC. At least 17
MDC legislators have been arrested since the beginning of the year, on
charges ranging from theft and public violence, to rape and playing music
that denigrates Mugabe.
ZANU PF accuses the MDC of reneging on a promise to push for the removal of
travel bans and an asset freeze slapped by the West on its senior officials.
It also says they have not called for the closure of the external radio
stations, that ZANU PF regard as ‘pirates’.
It is believed Tsvangirai only agreed to restore normal relations with
ZANU-PF after Mugabe gave his word to SADC leaders that all parties must
commit themselves to resolve their differences.
While some analysts believe the parties may have committed themselves to
reach agreement on outstanding issues in the 30-day period, many others
remain highly sceptical about Mugabe having any intention at all to really
share power.
