Zuma forces Mugabe to back down
in [Physics]
|
From: as on 4 Aug 2010 18:03 Zuma forces Mugabe to back down http://www.capetimes.co.za March 19, 2010 Edition 2 Stanley Gama Foreign Service HARARE: President Jacob Zuma has persuaded Zimbabwe's squabbling coalition partners to settle their differences and to fully implement their commitments under the agreement which underpins the unity government which was launched in February last year. In two days of intense discussions here, Zuma forced President Robert Mugabe to back down and make concessions he had so far refused, such as appointing members of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to senior government posts, sources said. They also said that Mugabe had grudgingly agreed to fire his controversial Attorney-General Johannes Tomana who has been accused of selective prosecutions against MDC supporters. But Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, leader of the smaller MDC faction, had agreed that Mugabe's equally-controversial Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, could stay on. The government has been stalled since its founding by bitter haggling mainly between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and Tsvangirai's main faction of the MDC. But, flanked by Mugabe and Tsvangirai, Zuma announced yesterday that the Zimbabwean leaders had agreed to implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which they signed in September 2008. "I have had fruitful discussions with all the signatories to the GPA, their negotiating teams, leading Zimbabwe personalities and other key stakeholders," Zuma said. "I am encouraged by the spirit of co-operation displayed by the leaders and all the parties. "The parties have agreed to a package of measures to be implemented concurrently as per the decision of the SADC Troika in Maputo," he said, referring to the summit of the troika of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) security organ in November last year which instructed the Zimbabwean parties to resolve their outstanding differences, including a more equal distribution of top government posts among the parties. I believe that the implementation of this package will take the process forward substantially," Zuma added. "The leaders have instructed their negotiating teams to attend to all outstanding matters during their deliberations on 25, 26 and 29 March and to report to the facilitator by the 31st March," said Zuma, who, however, did not allow journalists to ask questions. After he receives the report from the negotiators, Zuma will present a progress report to the chairperson of the SADC Troika, President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique. It is understood that Zuma used robust and effective tactics totally different from the soft approach by former president Thabo Mbeki to secure yesterday's agreement. After meeting the three leaders of the unity government separately on Wednesday, Zuma yesterday met them again together where he reportedly flexed his muscles. And taking a more practical approach, Zuma also had a faceto- face meeting with individual officials whose positions have become controversial issues among the parties. These were Gono, Tomana and deputy minister of agriculture designate Roy Bennett , the Tsvangirai MDC's treasurer- general. He personally negotiated with the three individuals on the best ways to resolve their roles in the political impasse, sources said. After the meetings, it was felt that Gono could continue as the Reserve Bank governor but that Tomana will be sacrificed. Bennett's position was not resolved, the sources said. The negotiators were reportedly instructed to come up with a plan on whether Bennett should be sworn in after his court case or before. Mugabe also buckled under pressure on the issue of provincial governors, agreeing at last to swear in several MDC officials to some of the governorships as soon as the negotiators come up with a formula. On the thorny issue of European Union-targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his Zanu-PF cronies, Zuma managed to get a deal whereby a committee from government comprising all three political parties would be dispatched to Brussels next month to tackle the subject directly with the EU. This decision reportedly mollified Mugabe who had previously insisted that he would not budge on his commitments, such as the appointing of MDC governors and the sharing of other top posts, until the sanctions had been
|
Pages: 1 Prev: Zuma encouraged by concessions Next: Australia gives $13 million to Zimbabwe |