Weekend GPA talks planned but doubts remain
By Tichaona Sibanda
19 November 2009
A top official from the mainstream MDC on Thursday said there were doubts Robert Mugabe would implement the Global Political Agreement, even if party negotiators manage to strike a deal.
Negotiators from the three parties are due to meet at a secret venue from Friday and throughout the weekend for talks aimed at dealing with the matters brought on the table through theSADC Troika summit that met in Maputo two weeks ago.
The agenda for the negotiations was set last week Friday during a meeting held between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.
On Monday Tsvangirai urged party negotiators to the GPA to speed up the discussions to end the deadlock over unresolved issues. Talks between the MDC and ZANU PF seem unable to move beyond the starting blocks, because of pre-negotiation manoeuvring over positions and agendas.
Although still voicing hope that SADC’s involvement this time will yield a breakthrough, the senior MDC official told us their reading of the situation was that Mugabe would make no major concessions to Tsvangirai.
‘We strongly believe that Zuma’s personal involvement and SADC’s sense of urgency would produce results. There could be a breakthrough this coming week, but we doubt Mugabe will implement anything before his party’s congress,’ the official said.
Some of the remaining issues in the GPA are around ambassadors and provincial governors. At the moment it looks as though mbassadors from the MDC will take up their roles at the various foreign missions from mid December. Provincial governors may be appointed in December, but well after the ZANU PF congress.
‘To be frank, Mugabe is giving himself breathing space. We will see a lot of politicking between now and the ZANU PF congress. But after that I can assure you, things will move at a faster pace than now,’ our source said.
The negotiators are expected to compile a report, which will first be handed to the principals before it can be forwarded to the facilitator Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa.
It is still unclear what the situation is around the MDC-M negotiators, who have been out of the country and delaying the current discussions.
A press release from MDC Nelson Chamisa expressed dismay at the slow progress on the talks. It is reproduced below. (Ed)
Zimbabweans want sticking issues addressed urgently
The MDC is extremely concerned at the dragging of feet by Zanu PF and
Professor Mutambara’s party in resolving the outstanding issues as
advised by the guarantors.
The deadline set by the SADC troika for the resolution of outstanding
issues has once again been missed because of the intransigence,
mischief and insincerity exhibited by the political players who are
not taking the plight of the people of Zimbabwe seriously.
For two weeks, Zimbabweans have waited in vain for the political
gridlock to be unlocked. We note with concern that the body language
from both Zanu PF and the Mutambara-led political outfit does not show
sincerity and faithfulness to resolve the outstanding issues.
The unelected negotiators from the Mutambara-led political formation,
who by some chance have found themselves in government, are stalling
the resolution of Zimbabwe’s political crisis. While the negotiators
of the major political parties met on Monday at 10am to deliberate on
the sticking matters, the negotiators from Mutambara’s grouping failed
to turn up. Professor Welshman Ncube and Hon Priscillah Misihairabwi
Mushonga have chosen to prioritise flying to world capitals at the
expense of resolving critical issues that will deliver real change to
the people of Zimbabwe.
The MDC expects urgent resolution of issues that have stalled the work
of the inclusive government. We expect that all parties, especially
those that have chosen to ignore the important time-frames, targets
and deadlines set by SADC, should urgently meet and clear the deck of
the outstanding issues that have poisoned the people’s collective
journey of hope spawned by the formation of the inclusive government
in February 2009.
Nelson Chamisa
Posted by Wellington Chadehumbe
on November 20, 2009. Filed under Politics.
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