SADC has no plans to convene meeting on Zimbabwe

SADC has no plans to convene meeting on Zimbabwe
Written by George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Saturday, January 10, 2009 2:43:52 AM

SADC executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salamao has stated that the regional bloc has no plans of convening a meeting on Zimbabwe as requested by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Dr Salomao, who was asked on state television - Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation - whether SADC would convene a meeting to discuss the proposed inclusive government in Zimbabwe, said the regional bloc had no plans for such a meeting.

Recently, Tsvangirai requested South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to facilitate a 'confidential' meeting with President Robert Mugabe.

"The SADC executive is the only office with a mandate to call a meeting of regional leaders in consultation with the [SADC] chairman and the chairman of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security [King Mswati III]," Dr Salomao said. "I am currently consulting within the region and no letter has been written to convene such a meeting on Zimbabwe."

Dr Salomao also said Tsvangirai had never approached the SADC headquarters in Botswana over his grievances.

According to Tsvangirai's letter to President Mugabe dated December 29, 2008, which was leaked to The Post by Botswana government sources, Tsvangirai outlined a set of conditions to be met by President Mugabe before he could join an inclusive government.

"In the absence of the processes, I find your proposal to appoint me Prime Minister irregular. I have written in the same vein to President Motlanthe suggesting that he convenes a confidential meeting in South Africa between you and me, under his chairmanship, so that we can iron out these matters to the satisfaction of all parties," read Tsvangirai's letter to President Mugabe in part. "I am sure you are anxious to proceed to the successful implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), anxiety that I share, but the issues are so profound that we must act in a logical sequence. In the meantime, I hope that when Parliament convenes on 20 January, 2009, all parties will support the text of the bill in accordance with the agreement."

Meanwhile, the MDC has dismissed Zimbabwean state media reports that it's currently divided.

"The opposition ZANU-PF-controlled Herald newspaper has climbed laughable heights in alleging non-existent divisions within the leadership of the MDC. Since Saturday, the Herald has engaged on cheap propaganda about the so-called divisions within the top ranks of the MDC," party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa stated. "Zimbabweans will not be hoodwinked by shrill propaganda from a discredited newspaper that has since lost its credibility. Since Saturday, the allegations have ranged from false stories that the MDC secretary-general, Hon Tendai Biti, is plotting to oust President Morgan Tsvangirai to laughable claims that the MDC President has summoned the top leadership of the party to South Africa to mend non-existent rifts within the top hierarchy of the party.

"Zimbabweans know that the only political divisions that exist are in ZANU-PF where contrived accidents and succession disputes and factionalism are a reality and not fiction. The Herald has obviously mistaken the MDC for ZANU-PF where internecine succession battles have wrought deep rifts, mistrust and suspicion across the length and breadth of the dying party."

He stated that Tsvangirai and all members of the party's standing committee, including Biti, were elected for five-year terms at the MDC Congress on Sunday, 19 March 2006 and their terms expire in 2011.

"There is no reason why the MDC secretary-general, himself a lawyer of unquestioned repute and a key figure in the drafting of the MDC Constitution, would wish for an illegal Congress in February 2009. The lies are too threadbare, indeed too naked to be taken seriously by the discerning people of Zimbabwe who overwhelmingly voted for the MDC on 29 March 2008," Chamisa stated. "It is common cause that several resolutions by the MDC national council have reiterated the fact that all outstanding issues have to be resolved before the party can become part of the inclusive government. These resolutions, including those of the last National Council held in Kadoma on Friday, 12 December 2008, have been unanimous. This means there are no divisions within the party; the party has one position regarding the issue of the inclusive government.

"No amount of propaganda against the MDC and its leadership will improve the waning political fortunes of ZANU-PF. No amount of malice, hate language and distortions will be able to transplant divisions and factionalism from their home in ZANU-PF to the MDC. No amount of fiction will change the fact that Zimbabweans see their only hope in the MDC and its leadership as expressed by the people's vote on 29 March."

Chamisa stated that no prophets of doom would be able to bring ill luck to the people's project.