Mbeki endorses Mugabe...

Necuno

Necuno

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...in hope of coalition deal

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A793094

Harare Correspondent

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki will recognise Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who was inaugurated yesterday for a further five-year term after he won a one-man election race, in a bid to find a negotiated settlement to Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

“Mbeki wants Mugabe endorsed in the interests of his mediation,” a source close to the Zimbabwe talks said. “If he says Mugabe’s re-election is illegitimate, he won’t be able to continue in his mediation role.”

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said Mugabe won 85,5% of the vote on Friday, compared with 43,2% in the March election, which Morgan Tsvangirai won with 47,9 %. The commission said voter turnout was 42,4%, almost exactly the same as on March 29, raising suspicions of ballot fraud.

Mbeki’s move to endorse Mugabe’s purported victory after Tsvangirai pulled out would divide the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU), already rocked by wrangling over Zimbabwe.

The Pan-African Parliament has rejected Mugabe’s re-election and called for a rerun, highlighting divisions in Africa over the issue.

Marwick Khumalo, who led a team of election observers from across the continent under the auspices of the AU-sponsored Pan-African Parliament, said yesterday: “The atmosphere prevailing did not give rise to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.”

Khumalo called for a fresh election to be held “as soon as possible" and urged African and regional leaders to “engage the broader political leadership in Zimbabwe about a negotiated transitional settlement".

Mbeki, SADC’s mediator in Zimbabwe, did not attend a regional meeting on the country’s crisis in Swaziland last week. SADC leaders present condemned the violence in Zimbabwe, saying the environment did not support a free and fair election.

Sources said SADC would in the end claim Mugabe’s election was “legitimate, although not free and fair”. This would be similar to the position taken by Mbeki’s government in 2002 after Mugabe’s controversial reelection then.

Mbeki’s key envoys on the Zimbabwe crisis, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi and legal adviser Mujanku Gumbi, spent two weeks in Zimbabwe trying to find a breakthrough.

Mufamadi and Gumbi returned to SA on Friday after meeting all three negotiating parties — the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF). Sources said Mbeki’s team secured firm commitments to dialogue and the need for a government of national unity.

“There is now common ground but the question is what kind of arrangement will this dialogue produce?” another source said.

Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai have expressed willingness to talk and it now appears necessary for them to find a way of working together.

Mugabe wants to be on top, while on the basis of his win in March Tsvangirai also wants the leading role. Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in March but failed to get enough of a majority to form a govern-ment.

Mugabe has been softening up since last week on the issue of talking to Tsvangirai. Yesterday he showed he was amenable by inviting Tsvangirai to his inauguration. Mugabe spokesman George Charamba said the invitation was issued “in the spirit of the president’s wish to reach out ... towards political engagement".

Tsvangirai rejected the invitation, saying the inauguration was pointless after an illegitimate poll.

“ I can’t give support to an exercise I’m opposed to. The whole world has condemned it, the Zimbabwean people will not give this exercise legitimacy or support."

But Tsvangirai said he was prepared to talk and suggested Mugabe could be a ceremonial president and he prime minister.

Before any agreement was reached, the MDC leader said, he would ask the AU not to recognise Mugabe’s re-election.

AU leaders are meeting today in Egypt. Mbeki and other leaders are pressing Mugabe to form a government of national unity with Tsvangirai.

Sources said Mbeki would soon be sending his envoys to Harare to work out the details.
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...imho time for hoping is over, but what can we do ?
 
The fact that Mbeki even contemplates endorsing Mugabe means he is an accomplice(can't think of the right word atm) in all the human rights attrocities that the Zanu-PF guavamint has visited on the citizens of that country.
 
The world is not doing enough :(

FFS, There are a lot of people dying and the world just watches!!!
 
Devill said:
The world is not doing enough :(

FFS, There are a lot of people dying and the world just watches!!!
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What would you like "the world" to do? And by "the world" who do you actually mean? The UN?
 
I can't even think of words to describe how angry this twit (Mbeki) makes me. That is exactly what Mugabe wants. Mark it as legitimate and they are back to square one. All of his "negotiating" has accomplished absolutely nothing so far. Why will it be any different in the future. Put Mugabe out in the cold and you may just get somewhere.
 
Politics make a mockery of common sense. How can an election be legitimate if it is NOT free and fair!
And if you endorse such an election then you share responsibility for the atrocities perpetrated as a result!
 
VanZan said:
Politics make a mockery of common sense. How can an election be legitimate if it is NOT free and fair!
And if you endorse such an election then you share responsibility for the atrocities perpetrated as a result!
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More importantly, if the ANC endorses this election it will be a chilling insight into what they consider a free and fair election and come next year we may see some of the same in our borders this time.
 
icyrus said:
More importantly, if the ANC endorses this election it will be a chilling insight into what they consider a free and fair election and come next year we may see some of the same in our borders this time.
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Yea, is truly worrying.

They legitimized the previous "election" with promises of talks.

5 years later and they are still trying to get the talks going...
 
icyrus said:
What would you like "the world" to do? And by "the world" who do you actually mean? The UN?
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If there are no resources in a country that one or more of the UN members can exploit, the world often turns a collective blind eye.
 
blunomore said:
If there are no resources in a country that one or more of the UN members can exploit, the world often turns a collective blind eye.
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I don't think people expect the governments of the world to do a damn thing of their own accord. I think people want the citizens of the countries to make it a big enough issue, that the governments have no choice.
 
Need I remind you all, 30 September 1938:

"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time."

Yes, feed the rapid caged animal and see how long it takes to turn on you!
 
If Zimbabwe had something that the world was interested in, Mugabe would have been killed by now.

Look at Angola's previous dictator, Savimbi. He was "ambushed". Why? There diamonds in Angola. Nigeria had the same situation? There is oil in Nigeria.

What does Zimbabwe have?
 
Heita_Hola said:
If Zimbabwe had something that the world was interested in, Mugabe would have been killed by now.

Look at Angola's previous dictator, Savimbi. He was "ambushed". Why? There diamonds in Angola. Nigeria had the same situation? There is oil in Nigeria.

What does Zimbabwe have?
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Quite a bit actually, gold, platinum etc. The only country that really has power over Zim is SA, short of intervening militarily there's not much the rest of the world can do.
 
You guys can't seriously expect Britain to do anything about Zimbabwe when they're already the main boogeyman in this story?
 
koffiejunkie said:
You guys can't seriously expect Britain to do anything about Zimbabwe when they're already the main boogeyman in this story?
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Countries should just have the balls to stand by their principles and do "the right thing", not sit and cower in a corner afraid of a tyrant just because they have been vilified via propaganda. You think if Britain behaves like a kitten then Mugabe will say "oh look Britain is nice after all"? Even if he did, what good would that do for the all the victims who are being murdered/raped etc.?

I'm not saying that I think Britain should do anything, just that if they do nothing, the reason for that should be better than "but Mugabe said we're evil so we're trying to look as un-evil as possible".
 
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