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Tsvangirai’s lectures on democracy are baseless, says Simuchoba

Tsvangirai’s lectures on democracy are baseless, says Simuchoba
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Tuesday, December 02, 2008 5:25:36 AM

THE democracy which Morgan Tsvangirai wants to lecture to people is really baseless, Lusaka lawyer Sibanze Simuchoba observed yesterday.

Commenting on South Africa's former president and mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis Thabo Mbeki's castigation of Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai over his party's attacks on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ruling on the Zimbabwe power-sharing deal, Simuchoba said Tsvangirai had no regard and respect for SADC and Mbeki.

"Morgan is using insulting language. So for Morgan only Western powers are important," Simuchoba said.

He said Tsvangirai should realise that the election process that took place in Zimbabwe, in which President Robert Mugabe of the ruling ZANU-PF won, had happened even in other African countries.

"Even in Africa we have examples like in Liberia where George Weah in the first round beat Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf but he didn't get a 50 plus one per cent so there was a re-run where Sirleaf beat George Weah and George Weah tried to murmur but they told him that 'look you lost and let [President] Sirleaf be leader.'" Simuchoba observed.

"Now, [President] Sirleaf is more acceptable to the Western powers because she worked for the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and so on. In that situation, it is acceptable but in Zimbabwe there are people who are saying 'No! No! Mugabe can't be president because he lost in the first round of 29 March.'"

Simuchoba wondered why the Western countries had accepted the election of President Johnson-Sirleaf but not of President Mugabe.

"Why are they accepting that George Weah lost because he won the first round and lost the second round? So this thing happens, you can't say he who wins the first round will win the second round...then there will be no need of having a second round," said Simuchoba.

"The democracy which Morgan wants to lecture to us is really baseless and I think that all well-meaning people will have nothing to do with Morgan. Morgan will never be elected because people of Zimbabwe don't like him."

Mbeki recently castigated Tsvangirai over the MDC's attacks on SADC's recent ruling on the Zimbabwe power-sharing deal, reminding him that Zimbabwe's burden is not carried by Western countries but the region.

According to a lengthy letter, addressed to Tsvangirai dated November 22, 2008, former South African president Mbeki expressed surprise over a letter written to him by MDC secretary general Tendai Biti.

Mbeki reminded Tsvangirai of the burden the region was facing due to the Zimbabwean crisis.

Mbeki's comments follow a letter written to him by Biti in which he described the SADC position on Zimbabwe as a nullity, saying it was difficult for any of the parties to move in any direction for fear of legitimising the SADC summit ruling.

Recently, the extraordinary SADC summit that was convened in Johannesburg decided that both MDC and ZANU-PF should co-manage the Ministry of Home Affairs and that the constitutional amendment Bill number 19, which will pave way for the establishment of the unity government be addressed by both parties.

The summit was convened after Tsvangirai called on the regional bloc to intervene as political parties in Zimbabwe had failed to share ministries equally despite having signed the unity agreement on September 15, 2008. The delivery of social services in that country has broken down and a cholera outbreak has left over 300 people dead.

Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SADC, SIBANZE SIMUCHOBA

posted by MrK @ 5:25 AM