Mugabe announced on last  Friday that harmonised presidential, parliamentary, senate and council elections would be held on 29 March. But the MDC, backed by pro-democracy civil society groups, has argued that the date did not leave enough time to prepare for fair and meaningful polls.
Prof Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of one of the two MDC factions negotiating with the ruling party, said Mugabe’s unilateral decision on the date meant that dialogue with the ruling party was at an end, and the question was whether the MDC would participate in the poll.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders had asked South African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate a solution to Zimbabwe’s eight-year political stalemate, but the talks had stalled over the MDC’s demand for political reform to level the playing field, and insistence on a June poll date to allow enough time for the reforms to be put in place.
With Mugabe having pulled the rug from under the feet of the opposition, ending any progress towards political reforms, Ncube said the two MDC factions were now united in finding a synchronised response.
Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the MDC faction led by party founder Morgan Tsvangirai, said Mugabe was stampeding the country into the polling station. The only problem with this election is that it is clear so far that an election in March will be another farce. An election in March is likely to breed another contested outcome because the sticking issues in the dialogue process are far from being resolved, he said.
Meanwhile the Voice of America reported that Zimbabwean opposition officials mounted a diplomatic offensive this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ahead of an African Union summit hoping to persuade AU leaders to bring pressure to bear on President Robert Mugabe to politically compromise in the spirit of the South African-mediated crisis talks many now say have failed.
Vice President Thokozani Khupe of the Movement for Democratic Change faction led by MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai said representatives of the formation are briefing AU delegations on what the opposition describes as a unilateral decision by Mr. Mugabe to call elections March 29 over strong opposition objections.
And SW Radio, London, reported that Kupe said that SADC should now intervene in the crisis talks on Zimbabwe because both parties in the negotiations have reported a deadlock to the appointed mediator Thabo Mbeki.
‘What we are waiting for now is for President Mbeki to report back to SADC because they mandated him to facilitate the talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF, Khupe said.
Meanwhile the Daily Dispatch, East London on Sunday this week reported that ANC president said that US and European interference was hindering efforts to reconcile Zimbabwe’s opposition with President Robert Mugabe’s government.
The US and Europeans tell us what we need to do and tell Mugabe, Jacob Zuma told reporters on the sidelines of the annual gathering of business and political leaders in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
That undermines our efforts, he said, adding that the issue contained an element of racism.
Nobody is doing more to help the situation in Zimbabwe than South Africa, added Zuma, who ousted Mbeki from the helm of the ANC in a bitter leadership contest last month.
As head of the party, he is the automatic frontrunner to succeed Mbeki as head of state in 2009 despite the prospect of a corruption trial in August.
I’m not sure I will do anything fundamentally different, he said, when asked if he would change Pretoria’s policy on Zimbabwe if he becomes president. Maybe it would be a question of style, he said.
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