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Levy calls for sadc summit on Zimbabwe

Levy calls for sadc summit on Zimbabwe
By Chibaula Silwamba, Kingsley Kaswende and Lambwe Kachali
Thursday April 10, 2008 [04:00]

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa yesterday called for an extraordinary summit of Southern Africa Community (SADC) heads of state this Saturday to discuss and find solutions to the high tension in Zimbabwe following presidential elections. Addressing a press briefing at State House after a lengthy Cabinet meeting, President Mwanawasa, who is also SADC chairperson, called for calm and patience among Zimbabweans as they await results of the presidential election.

“The people of Zimbabwe held presidential and general elections on 29th March, 2008 which were pronounced by the international observers as being generally free and fair. The results of the presidential elections have, however, been inconclusive as no outright winner among the presidential contestants appears to have emerged,” President Mwanawasa said.

“I know that there is high tension in the country but the most that we in the region can appeal for is peace and patience in Zimbabwe.”
President Mwanawasa commended Zimbabweans for the calm and peaceful manner in which the elections were conducted.

“Similarly, I appeal to them to maintain the same spirit of calmness which they exhibited during the elections as they await the results of the presidential elections,” he said.

President Mwanawasa said he had initially wanted to send former heads of state to Zimbabwe but he felt the situation was serious and decided that the matter should be dealt with at presidential level.

“Given the developments immediately following the elections, I have decided as chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to call an extraordinary summit on Saturday 12th April, 2008 here in Lusaka to discuss the ways and means of assisting the people of Zimbabwe with the current impasse as well as adopt a co-ordinated approach to the situation in the country,” President Mwanawasa said.

“I must indicate that as late as yesterday, I had felt that I should send a team of former heads of state to go and assess the situation, discuss with political parties then advise and report to me as chair of SADC but because of the deepening problems in the country, I felt that this matter should be dealt with at presidential level.”

He advised the international community to avoid doing anything that might worsen the situation in Zimbabwe.

“As the people of Zimbabwe await the outcome of the presidential elections, I wish to appeal to the peace loving people of Zimbabwe and the international community in general to encourage and support the people of Zimbabwe in their quest to resolve the current political problems they are going through. In this regard, nothing should be done by anybody that would further give rise to heightened tension in Zimbabwe,” President Mwanawasa advised.

Earlier, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) appealed to SADC leaders not to wait for dead bodies in Zimbabwe before deciding to intervene in that country's post-election stand-off.

And opposition UPND president Hakainde Hichilema challenged the SADC leadership to take proactive action towards Zimbabwe to avoid degeneration of the situation in that country.

And presidential candidate Dr Simba Makoni said he is part of the consultations to form a government of national unity.

MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said there was a legal and constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe, which was pushing the country into a tight corner.
Biti's remarks came in the wake of the delay to announce presidential poll results, 11 days after the elections in which the ruling ZANU-PF is believed to have lost.

"Our major concern is the deafening quietness of our brothers and sisters in the region. People responded poorly in Rwanda until thousands of people died. We responded poorly in Somalia and people died. We only responded in Kenya after hundreds of people died. I say to my brothers and sisters, don't wait for dead bodies in the streets of Harare to respond," Biti pleaded.

"There's a legal and constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe. Don't wait for dead bodies. Intervene now when forces of objectivity are still there.

Intervene now when we haven't gone too far. Where there's anxiety, there's temptation for people to break the law. Our people are very peaceful but this lack of announcement has paralysed the country."
ZANU-PF has allegedly ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to hold the presidential election results until a recount is done. The ruling party claims its candidate had been robbed of 4,900 votes due to miscounting by ZEC officials and ordered a recount before the results are published.

"ZANU-PF is now behaving like an opposition party. How can a government that appointed the electoral commission, invited friends to observe and they declared the election free and fair, suddenly lose faith in ZEC and say the election was not free?" Biti asked.

He said the delays in announcing results of an election in which only 2.5 million people voted, only pointed to ZANU-PF "cooking up" figures to suit the runoff template.

Biti also said the delays were meant to anger people into protests for the government to find reason to declare a state of emergency.
"We know that they are pushing us to a direction where we should protest so that they declare a state of emergency, they suspend the Constitution and Bill of Rights so that Mugabe clings to power.

This is the only way he wants to cling to power because he has lost the election. Our people have faith that the dictator is going nowhere," he said.

Biti said ZANU-PF had used the vacuum period to unleash a campaign of retribution among the rural folk for voting against President Mugabe.

By press time yesterday, MDC and ZEC lawyers were still arguing the merits in a case in which MDC is seeking the court's intervention to compel ZEC to announce the results immediately.

Although ZEC insists that there is a recount going on, the National Command Centre where the exercise was being done has been dismantled and transferred to another location yet to be known. A check at the Harare International Convention Centre yesterday found officials packing up their equipment and no ZEC officials were available for comment.

And Hichilema in an interview said it was worrying that the SADC leadership had remained mute on the delays by ZEC to announce the presidential poll results. He said there was urgent need for member countries to help Zimbabwe resolve its electoral problems before the situation went out of hand.

Hichilema said the prevailing situation in Zimbabwe was on a cleavage; a development he said was extremely unfortunate and required concerted efforts.

"The situation in Zimbabwe is extremely grave; it is a situation that as stakeholders, we should not allow to degenerate. As UPND, our main message is that all of us especially the SADC leadership, African Union leadership should take proactive measures immediately," Hichilema said. "Whether it is President Robert Mugabe or the opposition MDC Morgan Tsvangirai and other key players, they should not watch the country go to worst."

Hichilema said any political unrest in Zimbabwe would affect the rest of SADC countries and the continent as a whole.

He said the political violence that happened in Kenya should not be allowed to occur in Zimbabwe because that would cost the region innocent lives. Hichilema said the solution to Zimbabwe's political problems was in the hands of all peace-loving nations.

"This is why we are seeking collective efforts, collective wisdom of those two leaders. Look at Kenya, they were late to engage each other and the result was that it cost the country many innocent lives.

That should be avoided in Zimbabwe and the earlier they dialogue, the better for the country. I also urge ZEC to discharge its responsibilities by announcing the results as soon as possible. The president of Zimbabwe has an obligation to ensure that the country does not degenerate," he said.

Hichilema further urged Zimbabweans to be magnanimous in resolving their problems.

And presidential candidate Dr Simba Makoni said he is part of the consultations to form a government of national unity. Makoni, who was elusive as to which candidate he would back in the event of the runoff, said it was now time for Zimbabwean leaders to work together.

"Zimbabwe is a country we have built together over the years. Yet Zimbabwe is a country we have destroyed over the past few years because of the unwillingness to work together. Zimbabwe is not one person. Zimbabwe is all the people. I strongly urge our leaders to work together and find accommodation for each other," he told a press briefing.

Makoni criticised ZEC for delaying to announce the results, adding that he, as a presidential candidate, was denied access into the results verification centre.

"I requested to confirm the so-called meticulous verification going on but I was not allowed a chance. Now the verification centre has been moved... it gets me very worried," said Makoni.

"The inordinate delays in announcing the results heightens tension and does not serve the best interest of the nation more so that ZEC is keeping us in the dark of the real reason for the delay. Merely appealing for patience is not enough. It is our right to get results as soon as possible. As a candidate I urge ZEC to announce the results immediately."

Labels: MWANAWASA, SADC, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 3:05 AM