Financial Gazette (Harare)
Njabulo Ncube
10 September 2009
Harare — THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations plunged into a catch-22 situation after the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, convened in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week, dashed their hopes of getting Zimbabwe on the agenda.
MDC faction leaders -- Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara -- had written to outgoing SADC chairperson, Jacob Zuma, in July, requesting the regional bloc to lean heavily on President Robert Mugabe in order to resolve issues arising from a delicate power-sharing agreement signed in September last year.
Zuma, the South African President, had raised the hopes of the two political formations during his visit to Zimbabwe last month when he openly implored the three principals to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to resolve all the outstanding issues.
But in what came as a huge surprise to the MDC factions, the 15 SADC heads of state heeded President Mugabe's call for the lifting of sanctions imposed on him and his inner circle way back in 2001.
The two-day summit ignored the issues tabled by the MDC leaders with Zuma saying the inclusive government had made "great progress".
"The summit noted the progress made in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement and called on the international community to remove all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe," reads part of a communiqué issued at the close of the summit.
Incoming SADC chairperson and President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, was less ambiguous in his push for the removal of what Prime Minister Tsvangirai refers to as "restrictive measures".
He said the continued sanctions could harm the implementation of the GPA, echoing what ZANU-PF has been saying all along.
The communiqué was also silent on an envisaged special SADC summit to review the GPA as suggested by the MDC-T.
Instead, the outstanding issues would now be dealt with by the SADC Troika on Peace, Security and Politics, which is due to meet in Maputo, Mozambique.
The outcome of the Kinshasa summit is seen strengthening President Mugabe's hand in the inclusive government.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai has, however, remained hopeful that a solution would be found to the stalemate that is causing anxious moments in the coalition.
"Now that the SADC Troika is specifically vested with the matter of Zimbabwe, it is my hope and belief that it will deal with all outstanding issues as a matter of urgency," said Prime Minister Tsvangirai.
ZANU-PF, through its politburo, has remained steadfast that the MDC-T should call for the lifting of sanctions as that was the only real sticky issue hindering the full implementation of the GPA.
"Obviously, they are going to present it (the SADC outcome) as a diplomatic triumph," said political analyst, Takura Zhangazha, in an interview with an international news agency adding that President Mugabe and his allies had been
"desperate not to have Zimbabwe discussed" at the summit, which ended on Tuesday.
"However, more worryingly, the MDC and their allies are now going to be faced with tough and difficult negotiations ahead given that SADC has focused more on the issue of sanctions," said Zhangazha.
"Any future negotiations between ZANU-PF and the MDC will be difficult for the Prime Minister's party and his men."
Sydney Masamvu, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said he doubted whether the call would have an influence on Western countries.
"Unless the voice is coming from within Zimbabwean political actors, the call to end sanctions is not going to be heard by Western countries.
"This means unless (Prime Minister) Morgan Tsvangirai himself is satisfied with the developments of the inclusive government, he is not going to make that call," he said.
President Mugabe's biographer, Heidi Holland, agreed it was unlikely the international community would heed the call.
"It is a moral problem for the West as they don't want to support a government led by (President) Mugabe."
The MDC is expected to announce its next course of action on Sunday in Bulawayo when the party celebrates its 10 years of existence. Several diplomats have been invited for the celebrations.
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Surely one does not expect Mr Kabila to be particlarly useful on this one. It is equally hard to see what Mr Tsvangirai in all wisdom could possibly do. Mr Zuma appointed himself to finish off the business, but again he is probably too terrified of all the generals he met at the airport during his last visit and has taken the path of appeasing this fierce force called Zanu PF. I suppose he was told in no uncertain terms to back off from the catch. It's not him who did the hunting so why does he want to spoil the kill - I mean Zimbabwe which belongs to Zanu PF.