MDC isn't party to Pretoria negotiations, says Tsvangirai

MDC isn't party to Pretoria negotiations, says Tsvangirai
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Saturday July 12, 2008 [04:00]

SADC-mediated negotiations between ZANU-PF and opposition MDC have reportedly commenced in South Africa but the MDC has denied being part of the talks. Negotiators from ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations are reportedly meeting in Pretoria as the political parties seek to continue the dialogue. ZANU-PF is being represented by Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick Chinamasa and Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Nicholas Goche.

Prof Arthur Mutambara's MDC is being represented by secretary-general Welshman Ncube and his deputy Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga.

But MDC president Moragn Tsvangirai said his secretary general Tendai Biti went to South Africa only to present pre-conditions for the negotiation and not to negotiate.

"Over the past ten days, I and my party have stated categorically that there are no negotiations between ourselves and ZANU-PF currently taking place. In addition, we have stated that no such negotiations can take place while the ZANU-PF regime continues to wage war on my party and the people of Zimbabwe. This position has not changed," Tsvangirai stated in a press release yesterday.

"There is a meeting currently taking place in Pretoria at which the MDC is represented by secretary-general, Tendai Biti, and deputy treasurer-general, Elton Mangoma.

Their presence at this meeting is solely to present the conditions under which genuine negotiations can take place and the mechanism under which these negotiations will be conducted as defined by the AU resolution.

The lack of these conditions and an agreed framework in which negotiations can take place were the reasons for the MDC not attending the meeting between President Mbeki and Robert Mugabe last Saturday."

Tsvangirai said the people portraying this meeting as the beginning of negotiations between the MDC and ZANU-PF were being disingenuous and exploiting the plight of the Zimbabwean people for political gain.

"Portraying these talks as negotiations also undermines the resolution of the African Union, the statements made by the G8 leaders and the current process underway at the United Nations Security Council, all of which are designed to pressure the ZANU-PF regime to desist from its campaign of violence against the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe," he said.
Tsvangirai said there would be no talks until the conditions he set were met.
He said there would be no talks until there was an immediate cessation of violence and the withdrawal and disbanding of militia groups, paramilitary camps and illegal road-blocks sanctioned by ZANU-PF.

He said there would be no talks until the political environment were normalised, including the release of the more than 1,500 political prisoners, cessation of political persecution and provision of space for the MDC leadership to conduct business and travel without hindrance.

Other conditions are the reinstatement of access by humanitarian organisations to the people of Zimbabwe in order to provide food, medical and other critical services throughout the country, the swearing-in of Parliament and Senate, and the expansion of the mediation team to include an AU permanent envoy.

The G8 leaders who recently met in Japan declared that they would impose financial and other sanctions on leaders they described as "those individuals responsible for violence" in Zimbabwe.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States effectively rejected the government of President Mugabe saying it was illegitimate.

"We deplore the fact that the Zimbabwean authorities pressed ahead with the presidential election despite the absence of appropriate conditions for free and fair voting as a result of their systematic violence, obstruction and intimidation. We do not accept the legitimacy of any government that does not reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people," the leaders said.

Referring to the first round of elections in which Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won the most votes, they added that "it is important that any mediation process respect the results of the March 29, 2008 election."

The leaders also issued an implicit call for the SADC's mediation, led by South African President Thabo Mbeki, to be widened to include other mediators.

The G8 called on the African Union and SADC to "provide strong leadership," including taking measures aimed at "further strengthening the regional mediation process."