Maravi

Trade unions urge exclusion of MDC faction from unity talks

Trade unions urge exclusion of MDC faction from unity talks
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Friday July 18, 2008 [04:00]

THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said Professor Arthur Mutambara's MDC faction should be excluded from talks for a transitional government because he was not part of the June 27 runoff. The ZCTU general congress resolved after its meeting in Harare that the current composition and structure of negotiations should only stick to the parties of the June 27 presidential elections, that is, ZANU-PF’s Robert Mugabe and MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai.

“The MDC fronted by Arthur Mutambara should not be part of the talks since the election in dispute is that of 27 June 2008, of which only two presidential candidates, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai took part,” ZCTU stated in a communiqué circulated by acting information officer Last Tarabuku.

The union stated that the inter-party talks should take less than two months because the economy was in bad shape and violence had continued.

The union rejected a government of national unity, calling for a neutral transitional authority instead.

“A government of national unity is a subversion of our national Constitution and only a neutral transitional authority should be put in place with a mandate to take Zimbabwe to fresh, free and fair elections that will hopefully not be disputed by the parties,” the communiqué read.

ZCTU also reinforced MDC’s insistence that South African President Thabo Mbeki’s mediation role in Zimbabwe should be complimented by African Union-backed mediators.

“The current mediator in the talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki is part-time and has been leading the negotiations on Zimbabwe for a long time without much success and is perceived as sympathetic to the ruling ZANU-PF,” the union stated. “The mediation efforts should not be left to President Thabo Mbeki alone, it has to be expanded to include other AU members, preferably a retired president who would work full-time.”

Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, MDC, ZCTU

posted by MrK @ 6:48 AM