Zimbabwe opposition split on Mbeki

Zimbabwe opposition split on Mbeki

MBEKI

• Zim not for turning, says minister at SADC meeting

• SA claims 'movement' in Mbeki mediation

• SADC official on Zimbabwe mission

• MDC says SADC playing ping-pong

• SADC leaders want Zimbabwe sanctions lifted

• Tawanda Mutasah: SADC'S responsibility on Zimbabwe

• South Africa lays Zim crisis at MDC door

• Kaunda, Sata and Chiluba rail at Mugabe's critics

• South Africa insists on Zimbabwe dialogue

• Zambian leader calls Zimbabwe 'as sinking Titanic'

• Tanzanian leaders meets Mugabe amid crisis

• 24-gun salute and red carpet for Mugabe in Namibia

• Mwanawasa wins tight Zambian election race

• Unrest as chance of Zambian opposition victory fades

• Zambian opposition leader praises Mugabe

• SA envoy to Zimbabwe shot dead

• Sehlare Makgetlaneng: Nepad's fate cannot be decided on Zimbabwe

By Lebo Nkatazo

THE feuding factions of Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party have sent mixed signals about President Thabo Mbeki’s mediation efforts and the SADC leaders’ summit which opened in Zambia Thursday.

President Mbeki of South Africa was expected to table a report at the regional bloc’s summit after being tasked with mediating between the Zimbabwe government and opposition groups to find a solution to an ongoing political and economic crisis.

The MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai sent delegates to the SADC meeting, led by his deputy Thokozani Khupe.

Khupe told journalists that her party wanted greater involvement by other SADC leaders, suggesting Mbeki’s effort was inadequate.

She said: “The issues on Zimbabwe are so critical that they cannot be put exclusively on the shoulders of President Mbeki.

"We have confidence in President Mbeki, but we want the SADC to involve more than one country. We want SADC to broaden the initiative by including more countries in the mediation role.”

Meanwhile, a rival faction led by Arthur Mutambara, in a statement Thursday, said it had refused the urge to send a delegation to Zambia in order not to undermine President Mbeki’s mediation efforts.

Gabriel Chaibva, the spokesman for Mutambara’s faction said their views had been communicated to Mbeki, as SADC’s mandated point man on Zimbabwe.

“Consequently, it would not make any sense for us to then send a delegation to the SADC summit to lobby the same leadership when there is in existence a formal means of communicating with the SADC leadership on the Zimbabwe crisis, established by the same SADC leadership,” Chaibva said in a statement.

“As a party we reiterate our support and endorsement of the SADC initiative and commit ourselves to participation in the process to its conclusion. As long as that process is in existence, we will not seek to communicate with the SADC leadership outside the framework of that process.

“It is our firm belief that the SADC dialogue process should be given the necessary support by all parties, government and the opposition. Key to the success of the process will be the level of confidence shown by the parties, not just to the process but also in the person of the SADC appointed mediator.”

The position of the Mutambara faction appeared in sync with that of regional leaders who are set to be told by Mbeki that Zimbabwe’s problems also stem from Britain’s refusal to accept responsibility for the crisis, according to a leaked copy of the report circulated to diplomats.

At the opening ceremony of the 14-nation SADC summit on Thursday, Mugabe received the loudest applause as regional leaders took turns standing up and bowing to a packed audience, which included regional ministers and other officials. Mugabe sat beside Mbeki.

Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata fired a broadside at Khupe and her delegation in an interview with Zimbabwe’s state run Herald newspaper published Thursday.

Sata described the MDC delegates as the “harem of Western agents” and “paid foot soldiers of the anti-Zimbabwe crusade”.

“They have descended upon Lusaka during the current SADC Summit, in their numbers, to earn breadcrumbs by selling out on their birthright, against Zimbabwe's national interests. This is at the behest of their Western paymasters.”

Zambia’s privately-owned Post newspaper, in an editorial, also took the line that Britain and America were sabotaging Zimbabwe’s chances of an economic revival.

"It is very clear to us that the United States and Britain have not and are not playing a positive role in Zimbabwe. And anyone who is looking to these two countries for a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis is wasting time," the newspaper said.

President Mugabe accuses the MDC and its western allies, led by Britain and America, of undermining the country’s economy through sanctions in an effort to oust him from power.

America and Britain say they have only imposed “targeted sanctions” aimed at beating Mugabe back to the democratic path.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com