17 August 2007
SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki yesterday presented a progress report on talks between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to regional leaders in Zambia.
Mbeki presented his report -- which sources said claimed there was a step forward in the negotiations -- during a closed session of Sadc leaders at their summit in Lusaka.
This follows hectic meetings over the past two weeks between Zanu PF and the MDC, as well as civil society groups with Mbeki's negotiating team chaired by South African Local Government minister Sydney Mufamadi.
Zanu PF chief negotiators Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche met with the MDC team of Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti in the past two weeks for talks in Pretoria, while civil society leaders also went to South Africa to meet Mufamadi's group.
Reports say civil society leaders were told by Mufamadi that the main item on the original agenda for talks, the constitution, is no longer on the negotiating table.
The civic groups had said the constitution was the key issue in the negotiations.
Sources said the agenda for talks has been slightly revised after Zanu PF demanded some changes. There would be no new constitution-making bid but a constitutional review process instead.
The latest agenda now also includes the Bill of Rights, electoral laws and other legislation which need to be dealt with. These entail the need for Zimbabweans abroad to vote, delimitation and the death penalty.
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act which was left out of the original consolidated agenda is back on the table. It will be debated together with the Public Order and Security Act, as well as broadcasting laws.
The original consolidated agenda included the constitution, electoral laws, security legislation, communication laws, and the political climate.
Sources said the new agenda largely deals with the need to come up with a "hybrid" constitutional document by merging aspects of the government-sponsored draft rejected at a national referendum in 2000, the National Constitutional Assembly draft and the 2003/2004 document compiled by Chinamasa and Ncube from the two drafts. The hybrid document would also include Zanu PF's proposals in Constitutional Amendment (No 18).
Zanu PF wants the amendment to be the feeding point of all proposals as President Robert Mugabe is openly opposed to a new constitution. It said this has been agreed upon by both parties, although the process seems to be leading to constitutional reform anyway.
The parties, sources said, have also agreed on harmonisation of elections, although the date of the polls remains negotiable. Sources said elections could probably be held in June next year if the parties agree. The holding of parliamentary and presidential elections at the same time helps Mugabe, who is clearly afraid of facing the electorate alone because if his fate and those of Zanu PF MPs are tied together he would be the main beneficiary.
Sources said Mbeki and the other parties involved are trying hard to keep the details of the talks under wraps to prevent leakages which have been continuing despite frantic efforts to plug them. The scramble to maintain a veil of secrecy has resulted in conflicting reports on the progress in the talks.
Sources said Mbeki reported there was tremendous progress and the talks would resume after the Lusaka summit. It is said he indicated the process should be complete by mid-October ahead of the critical elections.
But Chinamasa on Wednesday suggested there was no progress in the talks which he suggested were irrelevant. Zanu PF says it is only engaged in negotiations out of respect for Sadc leaders, not because there is really anything to talk to the MDC about.
Chinamasa said the Zimbabwe crisis was caused by Western interference and sanctions, not policy failures. He said there no need for political reform in Zimbabwe.
This was consistent with the political line pushed by Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and colleagues, Didymus Mutasa, Sydney Sekeramayi and Kembo Mohadi at a Sadc troika on politics, defence and security ministerial meeting in Tanzania last week.
Asked about Mbeki's mediation efforts and Chinamasa's rejection of any dialogue with the opposition, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told Reuters: "As far as we are concerned the process continues until President (Mbeki) finishes what he is doing, the dialogue never died." Dlamini-Zuma had earlier rejected claims of a leaked report showing that Mbeki would support Mugabe in his feedback to Sadc.
The MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai said in Zambia there was no progress in the talks, while the MDC group headed by Arthur Mutambara said people should support the Sadc process. The MDC's position in the talks is weakened by its lack of leverage and internal divisions. Zanu PF seems to be pushing the frontiers to secure its interests, while the MDC is divided and weak.
After Mbeki's report, Sadc leaders failed to deal with Mugabe as widely expected.
The United States-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) had urged the regional bloc to put pressure on Harare to "end its broad-scale attack on human rights".
"Sadc members must take strong and effective action to deal with one of the region's most grave crises -- Zimbabwe," HRW director for Africa Peter Takirambudde said.
"Sadc's credibility as a real force for change on human rights is on the line here and its leaders should insist on tangible improvements in Zimbabwe."
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