Remaining GPA issues to dominate principals’ meeting next week
By Tichaona Sibanda
The three principals to the Global Political Agreement will meet on Monday next week to push for the conclusion of all outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement.
A highly placed source in government told us that before Mugabe left for his New York trip, the principals agreed to deal with the issues on his return. Mugabe is back in the country and on Wednesday chaired the weekly cabinet meeting.
‘They don’t discuss GPA issues in cabinet but they will meet on Monday where
remaining issues in the GPA will top the agenda,’ our source told us.
James Maridadi, Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman, confirmed the three leaders
will meet next week but would not confirm what they would discuss.
In the last two months Mugabe has reneged on a number of promises, all the
while insisting that it is the MDC who has not honoured the pledges in the
power sharing agreement. But it is Mugabe who has delayed appointing
provincial governors from the MDC formations, backtracked on swearing in Roy
Bennett and who has flaty refused to reverse the appointments of the Reserve
Bank governor and Attorney-General.
Mugabe has been telling his supporters that the MDC-T is not doing enough to
influence its ‘allies’ to lift targeted sanctions which, along with the
closure of external radio stations, remain the only outstanding issues as
far as he is concerned. . The sanctions were slapped on him and selected
members of his previous government in 2002, for human rights violations and
vote rigging.
Last week in New York Mugabe all but conceded that targeted sanctions
against him won’t be lifted anytime soon. He told Reuters news agency that
he was giving the U.S. Obama administration time to lift the sanctions,
saying he did not expect immediate action.
The ZANU PF leader said he was giving time to the Obama administration to
make their decision, which he said they inherited from George W. Bush. He
said of Obama; ‘They found them (targeted sanctions) on his desk and we don’t
expect him to get rid of them that quickly.
The European Union said recently it will not remove sanctions targeting
Mugabe and his loyalists, or resume development aid, until more is done to
implement the year-old power-sharing agreement and restore human rights.
Political analyst Bekithemba Mhlanga said Mugabe is now aware that he has no
valid excuse to delay implementing the GPA in full.
‘When the SADC summit met in the DRC early this month, they gave him a stay
of execution by supporting his call to lift sanctions on the basis that he
will go back home and implement the GPA. He has not done that and I’m sure
there are leaders in the region who are putting pressure on him to deliver
on his promise,’ Mhlanga said.
He added; ‘The ball is now in his court because its clear the western
nations will not budge until he introduces more reforms,’ Mhlanga said.
Additional reporting SW radio Africa
Posted by Dave Fish Eagle
on October 1, 2009. Filed under Politics.
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