(TALKZIMBABWE) No 30-day ultimatum by Tsvangirai

No 30-day ultimatum by Tsvangirai
Philip Murombedzi
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

PRIME MINISTER Morgan Tsvangirai told the media that his party gave President Robert Mugabe an ultimatum of thirty days to resolve all "outstanding issues". A communique issued by Sadc shows this was not true.

The communique, which was issued by the regional grouping's Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Co-operation did not mention a timeline, and sources that attended the summit verified that discussions on Zimbabwe never amounted to setting a deadline.

At the close of the Troika Summit convened in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, the MDC-T party told the media that they had called off a "boycott" of the inclusive Government, saying the regional grouping had encouraged all the parties to come up with a resolution to the "outstanding issues" in thirty days.

The MDC-T party had, in addition, indicated to the public that an "Extraordinary Summit of Sadc" would be convened. Instead, a "Summit of the Troika" was convened to discuss various other Sadc-related issues, not just Zimbabwe.

The Troika was called to discuss "the political and security situation in the region", according to the communique issued Thursday last week.

The MDC-T has misinformed the public and the media that the Summit was being convened specifically for Zimbabwe. The situation in Madagascar and Lesotho also topped the summit's agenda.

President Mugabe's spokesman and permanent secretary in the ministry of information and publicity, George Charamba, dismissed the MDC-T's statement

"No set day deadlines were given by anyone in the summit and no set deadlines would be entertained by anyone," said Charamba in response to PM Tsvangirai's statement.

A communique issued on Thursday last week by Sadc did not mention the 30-day timeline set by PM Tsvangirai.

In the communique, the Troika urged the parties to resume dialogue within 15 days and no later than 30 days.

"The political parties signatory to the GPA should engage in dialogue with immediate effect within fifteen (15) days and not beyond thirty (30) days," read the communique.

South Africa was also asked to continue facilitating the implementation of the Global Political Agreement signed on September 15 2008.

It has also emerged that PM Tsvangirai has secretly made some overtures to President Mugabe regarding his party's decision to "disengage" from the inclusive Government.

"He met the President face-to-face, he sent emissaries and made several calls in a bid to convey the message that his party had made an error of political judgment and the leadership had realised the futility of their actions," read a report in state media.

"He is quoted as having said, 'We are all mortals. We make mistakes'.

Reports say PM Tsvangirai wanted more meetings so that he could get a face saver from the President to allow his party to get back to Cabinet and the Council of Ministers."

By the time the MDC-T left for Maputo, it is reported, they had already made the decision to return to Government.