SW Radio Africa (London)
Tichaona Sibanda
27 October 2009
column
Crisis talks held in Harare on Monday between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe ended in a deadlock as the two leaders remain 'worlds apart.'
MDC spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, said Mugabe would not move an inch following talks mediated by Arthur Mutambara, leader of the MDC-M. The meeting began at 4pm and ended just after 8pm.
'There was a stalemate and there is no agreement. We are worlds apart. They (ZANU PF) are facing the west while we are facing east. We are reading the letters properly and they are reading them upside down,' Chamisa said.
Tsvangirai and his MDC ministers boycotted Tuesday's cabinet meeting for the second week in a row. Tsvangirai said he will continue the boycott until his party's concerns are resolved.
It has also emerged that Mugabe stuck to his guns and told Tsvangirai he had implemented most of the concessions in the Global Political Agreement, while the MDC was yet to meet its end of the bargain. Apart from swearing in the Prime Minister and ministers, Mugabe has failed to implement virtually anything else in the GPA.
Mugabe reiterated during Monday's meeting that the MDC has so far failed to influence the removal of western imposed travel restrictions on him and his cronies who are accused of human rights abuses and electoral fraud.
The MDC however argue that Mugabe's 'mantra on sanctions' will never hold and be accepted by the people of Zimbabwe, saying this message has been played over and over it now attracts scorn in the country. Apart from the fact that it is not the MDC who implemented the targeted sanctions and they are not under their control.
Tsvangirai met members of the civil society organisations at Harvest House on Tuesday and told them he thought Mugabe was in a self denial mood. The members of the CSO's felt that too many years of power had corroded Mugabe's conscience.
'When you are walking in the power of corridor and hearing nothing else but praises, you become arrogant and feel like God. It is sad that Mugabe and most of those in ZANU PF have reached this stage,' an official from of the CSO's told us.
The official, who attended the meeting, said Tsvangirai explained that Mugabe still denies there is no rule of law and that there are farm invasions still going on around the country.
'Mugabe raised the issue of radio stations still operating from outside the country and also voiced concern that the MDC was running a parallel government, which Tsvangirai denied. Instead, the Prime Minister told Mugabe that if he moved fast enough and introduced the necessary media reforms, people running the radio stations will return home and start broadcasting locally,' the official said.
A SADC Troika ministerial task force is expected to jet into the country on Wednesday for a series of consultations with Mugabe, Tsvangirai, Mutambara and various stakeholders to the Zimbabwe crisis. Foreign ministers from the three countries who make up the Troika (Mozambique, Zambia and Angola) will try to revive the political agreement.
The Troika on defence, security and politics is chaired by Mozambican President Armando Guebuza. If the Troika fails to unlock the gridlock, there is a possibility Guebuza will call for an extraordinary summit to deal with the issues. If a full SADC summit fails to end the deadlock, the MDC said on Tuesday people should start preparing for elections.
'If the mediation fails, unfortunately we have to start to prepare for elections because there is no government without the GPA,' Chamisa told Reuters.
Political analyst Gabriel Shumba said the latest deadlock was disappointing in that many Zimbabweans will see it as a reversal of gains made so far by the inclusive government.
'But make no mistake, the one party that will emerge damaged in this stalemate is ZANU PF. The latest crisis is testimony that ZANU PF is not a sincere negotiating partner. Their credentials are damaged beyond repair,' Shumba said.
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