THE chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, flew into Harare yesterday afternoon, providing impetus to the talks between the MDC and Zanu PF aimed at resolving the crisis in Zimbabwe amid speculation that substantive talks could start as early as tomorrow (Monday).
Ping met Morgan Tsvangirai at the residence of the South African Ambassador, Professor Mlungisi Makalima. A meeting with President Robert Mugabe is expected today (Sunday). No media was allowed near yesterday’s meeting.
Tsvangirai who snubbed a face to face meeting with Mugabe, Mbeki and Arthur Mutambara at State House recently, had demanded an expansion of the negotiating team before he could participate in a negotiated settlement.
"I can confirm that there has been contact, interaction and an exchange of views between the AU Commission Chairman Mr Jean Ping and President Tsvangirai," said MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.
It was not immediately clear when Ping would meet the other leader of the smaller MDC formation, Professor Arthur Mutambara.
On Friday Ping, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative on Zimbabwe, Haile Menkerios, and a representative of the SADC Organ on Defence Politics and Security, George Chikoti, met President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa in Pretoria.
After the meeting, Mbeki, who has been criticised for his handling of the Zimbabwean crisis over the past year, announced that he had formed a "reference group" with which he will liaise as he tries to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki said that "all parties agreed with the framework" which he had proposed. They had also endorsed his role as SADC’s mediator and "pledged to support his efforts".
Tsvangirai’s MDC yesterday welcomed the inclusion of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) in the mediation process seeking to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Political commentators yesterday read the inclusion of the AU and UN in the "reference group" and Ping’s arrival here as "positive developments that could unlock the logjam" in the talks.
Professor Eldred Masunungure, the director of the Mass Public Opinion Institute, said Friday’s and yesterday’s developments would serve to unlock the impasse and pave the way for full blown discussions regarding the Zimbabwean political crisis.
"It is a good development. It has been accepted by the MDC," said Masunungure, who is a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. "I have not heard the reaction of Zanu PF, but reading The Herald Zanu PF and the government do not have strong objections to the developments. To that end, both parties can proceed to the substantive discussions on how to deal with the problem."
Masunungure believes there is a real sense of urgency on the part of all stakeholders — the MDC, Zanu PF, SADC through Mbeki, the UN, AU, the EU and Zimbabweans.
"I would be surprised if the Memorandum of Understanding is not signed in the next two days," Masunungure said. "Logic dictates that the MoU is signed very quickly so they can get on with the nuts and bolts issues.
"I think the process will be short, sharp and precise."
He believes final agreement could be reached as early as a month’s time.
"The economy is the major pressure point for Zanu PF, but having been rescued from the UN Security Council — the veto weakened Zanu PF. It is therefore indebted to those who vetoed the resolution. Zimbabwe has to repay the debt because the US and UK will say to Russia and China, ‘see how your client is behaving’ and that they have been vindicated."
Chamisa said the inclusion of UN and AU officials "positions us in a ready to take-off position". He said the inclusion gives the talks the seriousness and international stamina that the MDC has been calling for.
"It’s a welcome and positive development that gives impetus, adds seriousness and urgency to the matter. It also eliminates the grey areas around the mediation," said Chamisa, without saying when they will sign the MOU. But he said they awaited the next stage in the negotiations.
Chamisa however said the challenge that still has to be overcome is the catalogue of bad faith on the part of Zanu PF. He said Zanu PF continues to commit acts of violence, rubbishes MDC leaders and has refused to disband torture camps.
"Statements by Zanu PF leaders as well as Grace Mugabe (President Robert Mugabe’s wife) are not helpful. They have not behaved responsibly," Chamisa said.
Last week Grace Mugabe accused Tsvangirai of being an unrepentant puppet of the country’s erstwhile colonizers.
Tsvangirai had said that he wanted an AU envoy to join the mediation before his MDC agrees to more substantial talks.
The agreement announced on Friday in Pretoria appears to strike a compromise which confirms Mbeki’s leading role in regional diplomatic efforts but which would subject his mediation to wider scrutiny.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has criticised Mbeki for favouring President Robert Mugabe and had called for his replacement, said Friday’s development had demonstrated that "our brothers and sisters in Africa, from SADC to the AU", continue to stand with the people of Zimbabwe.
Three weeks ago Tsvangirai told The Standard that his party preferred Ping to be the permanent mediator of the talks between his party and Zanu PF.
"As a result of this meeting, we welcome today’s appointment of a reference group of eminent Africans who will work with President Mbeki and the main parties in Zimbabwe to find a peaceful negotiated
solution to the Zimbabwean crisis," Tsvangirai said on Friday.
The AU has urged both sides to negotiate a power-sharing deal that would pave the way for a unity government, seen by many African leaders as the only way to avert further violence and total economic collapse.
Mbeki’s mediation efforts are now aimed at forming a coalition government. Both the opposition and Mugabe’s party say they are open to sharing power. But while Zanu PF says Mugabe should lead any coalition, Tsvangirai’s party insists Mugabe should have no role in the country’s political future.
The National Executive Committee of the Tsvangirai MDC met on Thursday for a briefing on the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed upon by the main political parties, but waiting for signing. The MOU lays out conditions for talks that are supposed to lead to a resolution of the crisis.
Violence is continuing, although all three parties agreed to put a clause in the MOU for an immediate end to the violence.
Last week 14 MDC supporters were assaulted and villagers were forced to flee their homes in Headlands, Manicaland on Tuesday while more than 30 MDC youths were arrested for distributing fliers in Bulawayo on Thursday. Other members of the MDC executive committee gave reports on the level of violence in their areas during Thursday’s meeting in Harare.
Angola’s foreign minister said on Friday said the region was divided over how to deal with Mugabe’s disputed re-election and that Zimbabwe’s crisis was weakening the unity of the SADC.
Several African nations, including Zambia and Botswana, have broken ranks and condemned Mugabe’s landslide victory in the 27 June poll run-off, which Tsvangirai boycotted because of attacks on his party’s supporters.
"The SADC region is experiencing an unprecedented situation vis-a-vis the situation in Zimbabwe," Joao de Miranda said at the opening of a summit of the Southern African Development Community in Durban.
The Angolan foreign minister said that regional unity and cohesion had become more fragile because of the problems in Zimbabwe, where the collapse of the economy has sent millions of refugees into neighbouring states.
This was the lead story in The Standard, 20 July 2008
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