In a move hailed as the first step towards solving Zimbabwe’s deepening crisis, President Robert Mugabe came under concerted pressure from three African leaders to begin negotiations with the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi met Mugabe for two hours yesterday to encourage his ruling Zanu-PF party to hold talks with the MDC.
After meeting Mr Mugabe, the leaders met the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for 90 minutes. ”The three presidents agreed with me that Zimbabwe is in a dire state,” said Mr Tsvangirai. ”We agreed that we have to work out a solution. The fundamental issue is that the MDC and Zanu-PF must get down and talk.”
The inter-party negotiations would aim to establish a transitional period in which Mugabe would retire and an interim government including both parties would be installed to pave the way for new, free and fair elections according to international standards, say African diplomats close to the talks.
However, Mugabe has not welcomed the pressure from his fellow African leaders. The state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper questioned whether the presidents were coming ”as African brothers or as agents of the British government”.
Speaking after the talks, Obasanjo said: ”It appears as if this country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. That might be an exaggeration, but things are definitely bad.”
Mugabe stuck to his demand that before any talks the MDC had to drop its legal challenge to his 2002 re-election, which the Commonwealth dismissed as rigged.
”The MDC said they don’t recognise me alongside the British, the Americans and the Europeans. Does the MDC now say they recognise me? That is the issue,” he told reporters. ”If they do, well, that means that the action now in court has to be withdrawn and we start talking.”
Tsvangirai has stated that the MDC is not willing to abandon its case. The court case, alleging widespread state-sponsored violence and vote-rigging, is the opposition party’s only legal recourse.
Tsvangirai has put forward his own conditions to the inter-party talks. He said that all state-sponsored violence and torture against MDC supporters must stop and that the repressive Public Order and Security Act and the anti-press laws must be repealed.
”It may be a halting step but this is none the less the first step in the movement towards a democratic government,” said Iden Wetherell, the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent. ”It may be a protracted and messy process, but it has now begun. The visit of the three leaders represents a significant chink in the hitherto solid armour of African solidarity protecting Mugabe.”
John Makumbe, the chairman of the Zimbabwe in Crisis Coalition, was cautious. ”I believe Mugabe has a few more tricks left up his sleeve,” he said. ”The process has begun but I fear there will be… more blood spilled before Mugabe actually steps down.”
The visiting leaders were welcomed by about 300 female MDC supporters who gathered in the centre of the capital, Harare. Jubilantly singing and dancing, they waved placards saying: ”Please advise Mugabe to step down”, ”Tell Mugabe to go now” and ”Women are being tortured”.
Armed police charged the crowd and dragged away about 10 women, including some with babies. But the action did not dampen the protesters’ spirits. ”They can arrest us, but they cannot stop us,” said one woman after fleeing police. – Guardian Unlimited Â