Preliminary talks between ZANU PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party began in South Africa last week under mediation of President Thabo Mbeki’s government. However, the talks have been shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty with the feuding parties issuing conflicting statements through the media.ZANU PF has insisted that the two sides had reached preliminary agreement on a way forward. On the other hand, the MDC has said no agreement had been reached with party leader Morgan Tsvangirai telling South African media that the opposition would not even sign the MOU until certain conditions it had put forward were met.But impeccable sources said MDC and ZANU PF negotiators agreed in Pretoria, South Africa, at the weekend to sign the MOU on how real negotiations would proceed.
The MDC and ZANU PF negotiators will meet on Wednesday (today) to sign the MOU before the South African facilitators, a diplomat said. They met in Pretoria for talks on talks and discussed the MOU to be signed on Wednesday.The diplomat said during the meeting, the negotiators agreed that real talks should not last more than two weeks and would centre on the modalities of forming a government of national unity as urged by SADC (Southern African Development Community), the AU (African Union) and the United Nations.South African President Thabo Mbeki – SADC’s chief mediator in Zimbabwe – will be represented at the signing of the MOU by his local government minister and point man on the talks, Sydney Mufamadi. Mbeki’s legal advisor Mojanku Gumbi and director in the South African President’s office Frank Chikane are also expected to be present.Our sources said the signing of the MOU would go ahead despite demands by both factions of the MDC that Mugabe acts to end state-sponsored violence against opposition supporters and free over 1 500 political detainees before serious talks can take place.
According to one MDC official, the South Africans were pressing for the singing of the MOU before AU Commission boss Jean Ping’s meeting with Mbeki later this week.Ping is expected in South Africa on Friday to get a briefing from Mbeki on the MOU and progress of the negotiations. An AU summit in Egypt last month called for dialogue between ZANU PF and the MDC that would culminate in a government of national unity seen by many on the continent as the best way to resolve Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.The MOU would set out the agenda of the talks and how they will proceed, a senior ZANU PF official said. We are not sure whether or not the MDC would stick to its preconditions for the negotiations to proceed.MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa yesterday could neither conform nor deny that his party would sign the MOU today, although he was quick to accuse ZANU PF of negotiating in bad faith.
ZANU PF has manifested an incredible catalogue of acts of bad faith, Chamisa said. They have clearly shown that they are not willing to be serious about the negotiations. They are talking white, but in actual fact they are acting black.He said there was violence in the country, persecution of our membership, our members of parliament who are being pursued on trumped up charges, all those issues militate against any kind of a meaningful dialogue.ZANU PF chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa yesterday declined to comment saying parties to the talks had agreed not to negotiate through the media.The pressure for a government of national unity in Zimbabwe was prompted by Mugabe’s disputed one-man presidential election run-off on June 27.Tsvangirai pulled out of the race citing escalating violence, but the country’s Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said his withdrawal five days before the poll had no legal effect and went ahead with the election. – ZimOnline
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