President Jacob Zuma has urged Zimbabwe’s political parties to ”remove obstacles” blocking the implementation of a power-sharing agreement.
Zuma told heads of state at a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday that ”significant progress” had been made in the agreement between Zimbabwe’s rival political parties.
”Just as SADC has stood with the people of Zimbabwe in the search for a solution to the challenges facing the country, it remains committed to working to encourage further progress,” Zuma said.
”We urge all parties to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the agreement.”
Meanwhile, Southern African states have agreed to hold a special summit on Zimbabwe as part of efforts to end the power-sharing row, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Monday.
”Zimbabwe is not on the agenda. It is clearly not on the agenda,” Tsvangirai spokesperson James Maridadi told reporters at the two-day meeting in the Congolese capital attended by President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
”It will need its own extraordinary summit,” he added, not elaborating on when and where the meeting would take place.
Mugabe and long-time foe Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government in February as part of a SADC-backed deal to end a political crisis that followed disputed polls last year.
But the power-sharing deal is beset with problems.
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Mugabe’s Zanu-PF of failing to honour a pact to reverse the appointments of political allies to key posts. Zanu-PF, in turn, has charged that the MDC has not done enough to have European Union and United States sanctions on Mugabe lifted.
Zuma is being closely watched at the conference for signs he will take a tougher line than predecessor Thabo Mbeki over Mugabe, who faces travel bans and asset freezes in the West as punishment for alleged human rights abuses and vote-rigging.
Last month, Zuma urged an end to the sanctions but also stressed the need for respect of democracy and human rights — a comment interpreted by some as directed at Mugabe. However, his speech at the opening ceremony in Kinshasa made no mention of the sanctions nor any direct reference to Mugabe.
Global economic crisis
Zuma also called on Southern African countries to work more closely to counter the effects of the global economic crisis.
Zuma told the meeting that member countries had little chance of weathering the crisis on their own.
”Individually, SADC members have little prospect of weathering the current economic turmoil. However, if we harness our collective strength behind the SADC banner, we increase the prospect of achieving our goals of greater human-orientated development of the region as well as improving the lives of the people of SADC.”
Zuma said that the crisis could not have come at a worse time for Africa.
”This global crisis could not have come at a worse time for Africa,” he said. ”It came just as we were turning the corner towards prosperity.”
SADC countries had to ensure that this crisis did not undo ”the great strides” made in the region in recent years.
”More importantly, it must not result in the further marginalisation of Africa and accentuate the potential for political and social instability in the region.”
The economic crisis underscored the need for a reform of the international financial institutions, Zuma said.
”They need to reflect the changing economic realities in the global economy, be more responsive to future challenges and give emerging and developing economies a greater say.”
SADC members needed to take cognisance of the emerging new geo-economic architecture, Zuma said.
”We must recognise that whilst it is important to consolidate the beneficial relationship with the North and the European Community in particular, we must hasten the development of viable partnerships with new emerging players of the South.
”Our strategy for regional integration does not only concentrate on politics, defence and security. In fact, the latter are only enablers for regional integration, economic and social development.” — Sapa, Reuters