Zimbabwe Opposition to Meet with Mugabe to Discuss Power-sharing Deal
 Printer-friendly
|
 Email article |
Related subjects: Africa, Diplomacy & Politics, J.E. Robertson, Rights & Freedoms Comments Off
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly signed an agreement with the government of Robert Mugabe to meet to discuss a power-sharing arrangement between the ruling Zanu-PF party and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, which many believe won disputed elections outright earlier this year. The meeting would be the first face to face meeting in ten years between the rivals.
Mr. Tsvangirai was detained repeatedly throughout his campaign for the presidency, last month, and subjected to arduous and seemingly arbitrary interrogations, according to reports largely from foreign press, but seems ready to make arrangements for a political solution. While both sides have said there is no agreement on power-sharing just yet, it does seem that moderation from South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, voicing the concerns of the international community, have led to the pragmatic consideration that there is no better way to a peaceful solution than an interim power-sharing deal.
Mr. Tsvangirai’s supporters, both inside and outside ZImbabwe, have repeatedly claimed he was the rightful majority winner of the first round of presidential voting, earlier this year. But the actual results were effectively buried during a process in which the government stalled release of election data, producing an official count that showed Tsvangirai ahead, but without a majority needed to take office. The ruling Zanu-PF party of Pres. Robert Mugabe has consistently argued that only the winner of the June runoff would be the legitimate president.
[ad#cafsen-intext]
After a wave of political violence, including paramilitary groups backing Zanu-PF allegedly assaulting civilians suspected of not supporting Mugabe, including women and children, in the streets, and the repeated detention of opposition activists and party leaders, Tsvangirai withdrew from the runoff, handing Mugabe the election. Tsvangirai urged his supporters to vote for Mugabe if necessary to avoid bodily harm or harm to their families, and proclaimed to foreign leaders that the vote was wholly illegitimate.
Tsvangirai’s MDC won the explicit backing of western powers for its claim that an election with no opposition could not be considered legitimate, and the US and UK have called for global sanctions against the government of Robert Mugabe. All of this has added to the pressure on Mugabe to initiate talks with the opposition, but it is likely Mugabe’s intransigence has led the opposition to accept the idea of an interim power-sharing deal as a possible outcome of talks.
But given the intensity of the campaign against the opposition and its followers, it is difficult to concieve of any deal convenient to both parties. Mugabe is considered by many the father of the nation, a leader in its struggle for independence and its only head of state in post-colonial times, whereas Tsvangirai has been seen by many as the savior of the nation, campaigning to make the system more democratic and pluralist, and to bring reforms that might reverse some of the economic chaos that has seen inflation rates of more than 1 million % per year.
| Printer-friendly
|
Email article |
CafeSentido Partner Sites: