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(NEWZIMBABWE) Time to engage Mugabe: UK editor

COMMENT - This article refers to a FT article by Michael Holman, which can be read here.

Time to engage Mugabe: UK editor
by Staff Reporter
31/05/2011 00:00:00

BRITAIN must re-establish formal and informal contacts with President Robert Mugabe and senior officials in his Zanu PF party if it is to play any meaningful role in Zimbabwe’s future, says the Financial Times’ former Africa editor.

Michael Holman, who grew up in Zimbabwe, warns that Britain’s “diplomatic death watch” on the 87-year-old Mugabe ignores the fact that there could be more brutal elements in his regime who may take his death as a cue to unleash more violence in the protection of their “vested interests”.

“As promised elections draw nearer, voter intimidation by the ruling party is on the rise and a nervous population seeks assurances about post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. If ever there were a time for constructive external advice, it is now,” Holman said in an article published in the Financial Times on Monday.

But Holman said Britain was doing “little more than keep a diplomatic death watch, as if Mugabe’s demise will mark the removal of the obstacle on the country’s road to peace and democracy.”

He added: “Maybe. But there is also a case for fearing that his death will be a catalyst for violence. Expectations of his imminent passing have created a febrile atmosphere in the ranks of his Zanu PF party, which shares power in an uneasy coalition. Far from seeking to restore honest governance, Mugabe’s would-be successors plot and scheme, seeking ways to protect vested interests.”

Britain cooled its previously congenial relations with Mugabe in 2000 when his supporters began grabbing white-owned commercial farms.

The imposition of sanctions by the European Union two years later further widened the diplomatic gulf between Harare and London.

But despite it all, Mugabe retains a yearning for restoring relations with the former colonial power. He has publicly expressed hopes that engagement could come under David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition government.

“Cameron seems to be quiet for now. I have been listening to what he says. They may talk about Zimbabwe in general terms, but I haven't heard him making really critical remarks about me,” Mugabe said only two weeks ago.

Holman draws parallels between Mugabe’s government and the white minority regime of Ian Smith which Britain sought engagement with at every turn.

“This London-knows-best attitude contrasts starkly with the treatment of the Smith regime, which issued a unilateral declaration of independence in 1965. This act of defiance led to a guerrilla war, which ended with an independence constitution negotiated at London’s Lancaster House in 1979,” Holman wrote.

“During these years, scarcely a month went by without a diplomatic initiative of one sort or another, in which the way had been paved by a succession of intermediaries and honest brokers. Today, the need for reconciliation is almost as urgent.”

Holman said the engagement should explore “the merit of an amnesty for those who admit and repent their political and economic crimes” if it would guarantee a stable future for Zimbabwe.

“The need to ease these tensions, encourage contacts that go beyond the formal and official and break a deadlock seems clear,” he added. “Far from keeping a distance from such discussions, Britain should be active in promoting them – not just biding time until the passing of Zimbabwe’s leader. The experience of Lancaster House should be kept in mind. Three decades later, it is time that talking began again.”

Labels: LAND REFORM, ROBERT MUGABE, WHITE FARMERS

posted by MrK @ 9:02 PM