Financial Gazette (Harare)
Njabulo Ncube and Clemence Manyukwe
22 November 2007
Harare — SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki arrives in Harare today for crucial meetings with ZANU PF and both factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), as he steps up a late bid to push the two sides to reach a settlement before next month.
Mbeki's visit comes days after negotiators for the two sides held a fresh round of talks in Pretoria. At these meetings, discussion centred on the prevailing political climate in Zimbabwe, and opposition threats that its participation in next year's elections is subject to the implementation of key agreements concerning the voters' roll and the reform of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, confirmed the South African leader's plans yesterday.
"He will have consultations in Zimbabwe during a stopover on his way to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda. He will meet the political leaders of ZANU PF and both factions of the MDC for a few hours," Ratshitanga said.
Sources privy to the secretive deliberations said Mbeki intends to attend the December European Union-Africa Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, with a comprehensive and positive report on the talks.
MDC faction leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is unlikely to meet Mbeki as he is already on a lobbying mission in Uganda, has accused the ruling ZANU PF of being dishonest in its approach to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) talks.
Mbeki, who was chosen by SADC to mediate in the dialogue, met both Tsvangirai and rival faction leader Arthur Mutambara in Pretoria last weekend. The two MDC leaders are said to have warned Mbeki of what the opposition believes to be a ploy by the ruling party to use the talks to gain legitimacy while continuing its repression against opponents.
Following his meeting with Mbeki, Tsvangirai, citing alleged political violence against MDC supporters by state security agents and ruling party supporters, told a meeting of his party's district officials on Sunday that ZANU PF was yet to demonstrate its commitment to the process, whose goal is to find common ground between the ruling party and the MDC so as to ensure a free and fair poll.
"As a confidence-building measure the MDC expects tangible deliverables from ZANU PF such as the cessation of violence and political persecutions," said Tsvangirai. "All hostility must stop, the opposition must be allowed access to the public media while independent newspapers must be allowed to operate."
The MDC also expected the Public Order and Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Broadcasting Services Act to be repealed so as to restore key freedoms, such as the right of assembly and speech.
"The MDC wants a new voters' roll, the constitution of a truly independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and the provision of technical support for the running and conduct of elections."
The MDC said these measures must include international monitoring and observation of elections by SADC, the African Union and the United Nations. The MDC also demanded a transparent delimitation exercise and electoral management system.
ZANU PF's insincerity, the MDC has told Mbeki's mediators, had been exposed by what it claimed was con-tinuing violence by the ruling party as well as a "non-transparent" voter registration and delimitation exercise conducted by what it alleges to be biased electoral bodies.
Mbeki is anxious to expedite the dialogue process and deliver a free and fair election which would not yield another contested outcome.
But the MDC has said it suspects an attempt is afoot to deceive Africa and the rest of the world on the kind of progress made in the talks so far.
It was too early to judge the process, the opposition has said, and it would be "unfortunate" if the forthcoming EU-Africa summit were used to "score cheap diplomatic points" by "prematurely rewarding President Robert Mugabe before he had delivered anything tangible on the ground".
The success of the SADC talks would only be measured by President Mugabe's ability to deliver a free and fair electoral environment, said Tsvangirai. Only a free and fair poll, he said, would address the legitimacy crisis faced by the government and would be a major step towards a resolution of the crisis.
Sources say at today's meetings, Mbeki is expected to brief President Mugabe on how he believes the impasse that has hit the last leg of the talks can be broken. Discussion will also centre on the major points agreed by both parties at the last meetings in Pretoria.
The MDC, according to the sources, remains concerned over security and media law reforms, ZANU PF's use of traditional leaders and food aid to sway the rural vote, and the denial of the vote to non-resident Zimbabweans. ZANU PF is, they said, still keen to discuss Western sanctions.
ZANU PF, on the other hand, will use new electoral laws it gazetted last week to show it is committed to the process.
The Electoral Laws Amendment Act bars the police and army from working for ZEC, as was the case in the past. Police are also no longer allowed into polling stations, except when voting or when called to maintain order.
A prospective voter aggrieved by a constituency registrar can now approach the magistrates' court for redress, and not ZEC. Voter registration would now be a continuous exercise, and the voters' roll would only be closed a day before nomination.
Presiding officers at polling stations are now required to make a public count of ballot papers delivered to their stations before voting begins, and ZEC now has powers to order a recount of votes on request. All parties will be allowed equal access to the national broadcaster, the draft law says.
Sources said the MDC and ZANU PF would soon issue a joint statement supporting the latest amendments, which would be their second agreement after Constitutional Amendment Number 18.
A source said the negotiating team has refrained from putting a firm deadline on the talks, but there was consensus that the process must be concluded by year-end.
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