Published by the government of Zimbabwe
22 June 2009
Harare — Southern African leaders, including President Mugabe, yesterday resolved to address the crisis in Madagascar through dialogue and appointed former Mozambican leader Mr Joachim Chissano to mediate between the feuding parties.
Speaking to Zimbabwean journalists at the end of a Sadc extraordinary summit to deal with the crisis in Madagascar in Sandton, South Africa, yesterday morning, President Mugabe said the leaders had opted for dialogue instead of military intervention.
President Ravalomanana was ousted in March following a series of street protests that saw opposition leader Mr Andry Rajoelina take power with the backing of the army.
Mr Ravalomanana was pushing for possible military action to restore his rule, a view shared by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
But President Mugabe, describing the outcome as a happy ending, said the summit had decided that the conflicting parties should resolve their differences through dialogue and that the talks should start as soon as possible.
"Rajoelina is insisting that he should be Head of State and, therefore, replace Ravalomanana, there is a conflict situation, a rebellion and that has to be corrected through force or negotiations. For now, it has been decided they try negotiations," President Mugabe, who returned home yesterday, said.
Sadc insisted on dialogue and appointed Mr Chissano to broker the talks at a summit that dragged past midnight on Saturday.
"The extraordinary summit urged the Malagasy parties to fully co-operate with the Sadc-co-ordinated political dialogue aimed at restoring the constitutional order, peace and stability in Madagascar," Sadc executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salomao said.
The Sadc executive secretary said progress on the mediation effort would be reviewed at Sadc's next annual summit in August in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The special summit was called following the suspension of mediation efforts by the African Union and the United Nations.
"What Sadc has decided to do is to try to pull together all the activities that are taking place under the leadership of the mediator and his team," Sadc chair and South African President Jacob Zuma said.
Sadc has since suspended Madagascar from the grouping and called for the restoration of President Ravalomanana's rule. Mr Ravalomanana swept to power in 2002 on a wave of public support and backing from influential churches and won presidential elections in 2006.
But his economic programme proved disastrous, sparking a two-thirds currency devaluation in 2004, while critics accused him of failing to keep promises of electoral reforms.
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