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South Africa: Zanu (PF), MDC to Meet On Impasse
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
9 July 2008
Posted to the web 9 July 2008
Karima Brown
Johannesburg
ZIMBABWE's ruling Zanu (PF) and the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are expected to meet today for talks on a way out of that country's political impasse.
The meeting was confirmed by African National Congress president Jacob Zuma, who was informed of it by Harare's diplomatic representative in Pretoria, Simon Khaya Moyo.
"The Zimbabwe ambassador to SA informed me that a meeting will be held between two representatives of Zanu and the two groups within the MDC," Zuma told Business Day.
Moyo was part of a group of diplomats who had lunch with Zuma in Pretoria yesterday.
Zuma urged the parties to "put the interests of Zimbabweans" above their narrow political considerations.
"The elections were discredited, but we do need some political arrangement that needs to take into account that both parties have a role to play in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe," Zuma said.
ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe and secretary- general Gwede Mantashe will also meet their counterparts in Zanu (PF) today in Zimbabwe.
While Zuma has publicly backed President Thabo Mbeki's mediation efforts he has not missed an opportunity to highlight shortcomings of the process managed by Mbeki.
Leaders of developed countries at the Group of Eight summit in Japan have called for tougher sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his regime. The ANC would discuss targeted sanctions, and be guided by the Southern African Development Community and African Union, Zuma said.
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"Two questions need addressing in any resolution of the crisis. The first is that the interest of the country must be paramount, and the second is that the margin in the elections was not that big. This means that both the MDC and Zanu (PF) have support, and they will have to find a way to deal with that in any future arrangement."
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