Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday refused to back down on his position that Zimbabwe should remain suspended from the Commonwealth after the African country’s president Robert Mugabe accused him of a vendetta.
”Robert Mugabe holds power because of a reported election and until Zimbabwe conforms to Commonwealth democratic principles, it should remain suspended from the Commonwealth,” a spokesperson for Howard said.
Mugabe on Friday said Zimbabwe was ready to ”say goodbye to the Commonwealth, claiming it was being victimised by white countries in the 54-nation body, particularly Britain and Australia”.
He referred to Howard as being ”genetically-modified because of the criminal ancestry he derives from” adding that ”criminals were banished to Australia and New Zealand by the British”.
Howard sits on a Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe and Mugabe claimed Howard overruled the African nations to ensure Zimbabwe remains suspended from the organisation beyond March, when a one-year suspension is scheduled to end.
Zimbabwe claims the ”white Commonwealth” is punishing it for its three-year old programme of seizing white-owned land for redistribution to new black farmers.
Meanwhile, voters in the central Zimbabwe town of Kadoma went to the polls on Saturday for a two-day parliamentary by-election in another test of strength between Mugabe and the opposition.
Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) is seeking to take the seat from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose lawmaker represented the mining and agricultural town until dying in August.
Campaigning in Kadoma was marked by police questioning the bodyguard of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai for allegedly assaulting a member of the public in the town on Thursday.
Tsvangirai had been meeting constituents in the city, located some 140km southwest of Harare, drumming up support for MDC candidate Charles Mpandawana, and had to spend two hours at a Kadoma police station while police questioned his aide.
The opposition leader’s spokesperson had previously claimed it was Tsvangirai who was being questioned. On Friday the state-run Herald said the opposition party was trying to create an impression that it was being harassed by the state.
The by-election comes at a crucial time for Zimbabwe, when a key Commonwealth summit due to be held next week is likely to deliberate on Zimbabwe’s readmittance to the 54-member grouping.
Zimbabwe was suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth in March last year after some international observers said a presidential election that returned Mugabe to power was marred by violence, intimidation and electoral flaws.
Mugabe, who has not been invited to the summit, said on Friday it might be time for Zimbabwe to ”say goodbye” to the Commonwealth rather than bow to pressure he says is being imposed by its white members.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon has said he wants to see key issues addressed by Harare before it is readmitted to the group, including an end to alleged political harassment of the opposition.
The MDC stormed onto the Zimbabwean political scene in 2000 parliamentary elections, clinching 57 out of 120 contested seats. The ruling party got 62, and it still holds the majority. Tsvangirai, who early this month began a landmark court challenge to Mugabe’s victory in last year’s presidential election, faces treason charges along with two other senior MDC officials for allegedly seeking Mugabe’s assassination.
The long-running trial, which started in February this year, is currently in recess.
The opposition leader faces a second charge of treason for allegedly inciting his supporters to overthrow the government in June this year. That trial is due to start next year. – Sapa-AFP