Robert Mugabe Ready For Deal On Power-Sharing
Robert Mugabe’s regime signalled early today that it is willing to share power with Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change - but only with Mr Mugabe still in charge.
The state-owned Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said the only way out of the political crisis was a government of national unity.
It said Mr Mugabe, 84, would have to remain as the head of state. But the MDC, which insists Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential elections last month, has ruled out participation in such a government.
The article, written by Mugabe loyalist Dr Obediah Mukura Mazombwe, calls for the Southern African Development Community (SADC), made up of Zimbabwe’s neighbours and “friendly nations” to help create “a new constitution for Zimbabwe, which would be adopted only after a national referendum”.
“In collaboration with SADC and invited members of the international community, [the unity government] should hold free and fair elections.”
The article claims that independent observers consider the recent elections “harmonised” but laments they did not produce an outright winner, adding that “it is unlikely that the ongoing recount will substantively alter that position. Accordingly, it stands to reason that the transitional government of national unity, negotiated by the two leading contending parties, under the mediation of SADC, supported by the international community, should be led by the incumbent president.”
The “offer” appears to be Mr Mugabe’s political manoeuvring at its finest, while at the same time acknowledging Kenya’s recent post-election solution. It would allow him to marginalise the MDC over time, while a call for new elections organised by the SADC and “friendly nations” is code for friends of Mr Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF.
Nonetheless, the fact that the subject is being discussed in the columns of a government propaganda sheet is a sign that more than three weeks after the election, the Zimbabwean authorities are feeling under pressure.
The US yesterday pressed China to halt a shipment of weapons to Zimbabwe and stop further sales amid mounting international concern about the deliveries.
China said earlier that the An Yue Jiang “may return to China” if it was not allowed to unload its cargo, but insisted that the vessel was “engaged in perfectly normal trade”.
Church leaders in Zimbabwe called for international intervention against ZANU PF national terror campaign.
(Source)
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