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(NEWZIMBABWE) EU set to lift Zimbabwe sanctions

EU set to lift Zimbabwe sanctions
12/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

THE European Union is set to lift sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002 in an effort to persuade President Robert Mugabe to hold fair elections, a report in the British Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Thursday.

The newspaper said a review of the sanctions that banned the 88-year-old Mugabe, his military allies and key officials from travelling to Europe and froze suspect bank accounts will conclude that sanctions should now be conditionally suspended.

The sanctions – which are opposed by both Mugabe and his MDC rivals – are set to be conditionally lifted later this month, their removal becoming permanent if Mugabe delivers on his promise of a new constitution, adoption of human rights laws and free elections next year.

On both sides of the political divide, most agree that the sanctions, imposed in 2002 after the seizure of white-owned farms and violent presidential elections, had failed to hit their mark.

Most recently, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangiri, the MDC-T leader, and Navi Pillay, the UN human rights commissioner, have called for their lifting.

Pillay said the stigma of sanctions was inflicting damage on the Zimbabwean economy as the country was viewed adversely by international investors and lenders.
Welshman Ncube, president of the MDC, said their suspension would promote a more open democracy.

"If this is true, then this is the best news I have had in a very long time and is a very serious contribution by the EU to help create a climate where Zimbabweans can go to elections and freely express themselves," he said.
John Robertson, a Zimbabwean economist, said Zanu PF had made much "political mileage" out of the sanctions.

He told the Telegraph: "Sanctions were the West's best gift to Zanu PF. However, we should remember why the sanctions were imposed in the first place and that some of those crimes continue."
Zanu PF politicians also welcomed the move, saying it would give succour to "ordinary Zimbabweans".

Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe's former spin doctor and member of the Zanu PF Politburo, said the "evil and illegal" sanctions "should never have been imposed in the first place".
But he said that the threat to reinstate them was "patronising".

"It's very destabilising to say 'We are holding a big axe over your head if you don't run elections in a way that's acceptable to us' because it will be used by some political parties to get what they want," he said.

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"It will create a situation where it's heads, MDC wins and tails, MDC wins. If the Europeans want to help us, they must leave us to run our own affairs – we don't need to be treated like naughty children rewarded with sweets. It's a very patronising attitude."

Didymus Mutasa, Zanu PF's secretary for administration and Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, said the suspension of sanctions would make little difference to the ruling class.

"It makes no difference to me whatsoever," he told The Telegraph. "I won't be going to London, it's very cold and the people are very unfriendly - I would rather stay here.

"We have been telling the British for years that the people they targeted are not being adversely affected by sanctions at all. We are still receiving our salaries and the situation for us is exactly the same.

"The people who are being affected are those who benefited from the industries that could not function under sanctions. We are happy only that our people will be happier."
Ian Makone, Morgan Tsvangirai's chief of staff, said they would wait to see the evidence of the suspension.

"We have so far been unable to find out from the EU anything about this, (sanctions) and until we are able to do so, we cannot comment," he said.

Labels: EU, SANCTIONS

posted by MrK @ 1:03 AM