AU nudges Mugabe towards unity government

AU nudges Mugabe towards unity government

RESOLUTION: AU resolution calls for unity government in Zimbabwe, but fell short of condemning Mugabe

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AFRICAN Union leaders meeting in Egypt nudged President Robert Mugabe towards a government of national unity on Tuesday but pointedly refused to condemn the 84-year-old leader’s controversial re-election.

A summit of the pan-African body, which had been divided over what to do about Zimbabwe, adopted the resolution after Botswana called for the AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to bar Mugabe. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has also called for Mugabe, 84, to be suspended from the AU.

Botswana’s statement was the toughest by any of Zimbabwe’s neighbours since Mugabe was sworn in on Sunday after a one-candidate election run-off condemned by monitors and much of world opinion as violent and unfair.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the poll because of the violence, in which he said 86 of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters had been killed.

“In our considered view ... the representatives of the current government in Zimbabwe should be excluded from attending SADC and African Union meetings,” Botswana Vice-President Mompati Merafhe said.

Botswana said Mugabe’s participation in African meetings “would give unqualified legitimacy to a process which cannot be considered legitimate”, adding that the government and opposition must be treated as equal in any mediation.

Meanwhile, the MDC hardened its stance, declaring that Sunday’s single-candidate run-off had “completely exterminated any prospects” of a negotiated settlement.

“It is now the firm view of the MDC that those who claim they have got a mandate to govern should govern,” said MDC secretary- general Tendai Biti — rejecting prospects of a joint government of national unity with Zanu PF.
Biti went on to deny renewed reports of an imminent deal between his party and Zanu PF.

He said: “Nothing can be as malicious and further from the truth. As a matter of fact, there are no talks or discussions taking place between the two parties and most importantly, there is no agreement in the offing.”

The MDC, he said, had pursued dialogue before June 12 in a bid to establish a government of national healing, but that this was scuppered when Mugabe went ahead with “the sham election” on Sunday.

The Botswana statement, meanwhile, underlined the deep rifts within Africa as a whole and among Zimbabwe’s neighbours.

President Thabo Mbeki, the designated mediator in Zimbabwe, reportedly resisted the open condemnation of Mugabe.

Summit delegates said earlier that leaders were divided between those who wanted a strong statement about Zimbabwe and others who were reluctant to publicly censure Mugabe.

The AU summit in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, has been dominated by the deepening political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, whose once prosperous economy is racked by the world’s highest rate of hyperinflation.
Mugabe addressed the final session of the two-day summit, senior delegates said.
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