SADC will not convene a full, extraordinary summit, to tackle the outstanding issues plaguing the coalition government, according to Tomaz Salomao, the secretary-general of the regional bloc.

Salomao replied ‘no no no, we will not convene a summit over that’ in response to questions  as to when SADC was going to meet, as requested by the MDC to discuss the outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement. Salomao would not elaborate as to why SADC would not convene a summit, or how the issue was going to be dealt with.

The MDC used a national conference over the weekend to call on the SADC to convene an urgent, extraordinary summit to step in and resolve the outstanding issues. They clearly feel that the issues are so serious that they need to be handled by Heads of State at a full summit. MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti last week Wednesday delivered the appeal letter to Mlungisi Makhalima, South Africa’s ambassador in Harare, for onward transmission to the new SADC chairman and President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

Salomao’s pronouncement that SADC will not meet to discuss the issues, will come as a surprise to the MDC who insist that since SADC and the African Union are the guarantors to the deal, they should intervene and resolve the impasse.

Asked to confirm if he had received the letter from the MDC Salomao said he had not, but would probably get it some time soon. But he indicated that he was ‘improper’ for SADC to discuss individuals (such as the outstanding issue of Reserve Bank Governor Gono and Attorney General Tomana).

‘Either way if the MDC wrote direct to the SADC chairman I will still get a copy of the letter. But as of now I can confirm I still have to receive it,’ Salomao said.

The MDC is seeking the intervention of SADC in forcing Robert Mugabe to honour his end of the bargain by rescinding the unilateral appointment of Gono and Tomana.

The appointments were made by Mugabe without consultation with the other two principals in the inclusive government, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

The MDC has often viewed Salomao with suspicion because of his assessment of the Zimbabwe situation, which they feel has shown bias towards ZANU PF. He proclamied last year’s elections as free and fair and in 2007 said that SADC would pull out of an EU summit in Lisbon, if Zimbabwe was on the agenda.

The new South African President holds the rotating chairmanship of the regional bloc until August. Salomao’s pronouncement that a full SADC summit will not be convened could indicate that Zuma, as chairman of the bloc, will take direct charge of the Zimbabwe crisis.
It is hoped that Zuma’s recent election win would trigger a tougher stance on Zimbabwe. Zuma has in the past criticised Mbeki’s soft approach to Mugabe and last year he even rebuked Mugabe for refusing to step down as president. During a dinner speech in July last year, Zuma told guests; ‘In Africa we have some political leaders who refuse to bow out and try to change the constitution to accommodate themselves, as in neighbouring Zimbabwe.’

Political analyst Glen Mpani told us Zuma was more likely to try to force Mugabe to honour the power-sharing deal with Tsvangirai than Mbeki.
‘Zimbabwe is probably the most pressing foreign policy issue to confront Zuma. With his close links to Tsvangirai, the certainty is that there is going to be no more pussyfooting around, and that he won’t put up with any more of Mugabe’s shenanigans,’ Mpani said.

‘He’s likely to concentrate on domestic matters and those of direct concern to South Africa such as Zimbabwe. He is well appraised of what is happening in Zimbabwe and he could take this opportunity to ensure both sides in the GPA agree on the implementation process as prescribed by SADC,’ Mpani added.

Additional Reporting:  SW Radio Africa