The consultations follow last Saturday’s SADC extra-ordinary summit’s key resolution that South African President Thabo Mbeki should lead transitional mediation between the two parties.
Reports suggest that, behind closed doors, Mugabe was roundly condemned by SADC leaders for fanning tension by withholding results which show that he has lost the Zimbabwe’s president-in-waiting, Morgan Tsvangirai, says he will discuss nothing but a fresh call for Mugabe to step down.
”Consultations are expected to start this week, separately between Zanu (PF) and the MDC in Harare with facilitators from South Africa,” a SADC country diplomat told The Zimbabwean.
He said the consultations were meant to decide on the venue, date and agenda for a formal meeting between the two parties.
Formal talks were expected to start “probably Thursday” with the leader of the ruling party’s team, former Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who was rejected by the electorate, according to ZEC’s official results of the house of assembly poll.
Chief mediator in Mbeki’s team, Sydney Mufamadi, who met Tsvangirai in Pretoria last week, declined to give details of the mediation.
”We have been sworn to silence. We are not speaking to the media until both parties have come up with some sort of agreement,” he tsaid. South Africa’s embassy in Harare also declined to comment.
MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti, who is leading the opposition team, said his party would fulfill an undertaking made to the SADC extra-ordinary summit to pursue dialogue aimed at instructing Mugabe to leave office.
”We are giving them a chance to have that dialogue. Our view is that you will not be able to have successful talks until you have the climate for successful talks. So we want the results announced by ZEC first,” Biti said.
South Africa has led earlier pre-election dialogue efforts between the former British colony’s bitterly divided parties and is reportedly pushing for a government of national unity.
Zimbabwe was instructed by SADC, according to communiqué issued after the gathering at Mulungushi International Conference centre in Lusaka Saturday, to immediately announce the results and that all parties accept the outcome of the poll.
Mugabe is in contempt of that order by continuing to withhold the results.
The MDC accuses ZEC of electoral fraud by shutting down the Command Centre and moving ballots to some secret place and stuffing them.
Zimbabwe’s government dismisses the charges, saying they are being pushed by Western powers keen to see Mugabe ousted over his seizure of white-owned farms for landless blacks.
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