[DEBATE] : (Fwd) SA trickery to unite MDCs & Zanu fails again

[Patrick Bond]

SADC summit on Zimbabwe deadlock
AFP     Published:Jan 20, 2009

Regional leaders will next week resume efforts to break Zimbabwe’s 
political impasse after marathon talks failed to get President Robert 
Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai to form a unity government.

After 12 hours of talks, Mugabe told reporters early today he had 
accepted a Southern African Development Community (SADC) proposal. But 
Tsvangirai said that crucial issues remained to be resolved.

The agreement proposed by the SADC - and published in state media today 
- would have seen Tsvangirai sworn in as prime minister on Saturday.

But it left the opposition’s points of contention to be ironed out by a 
power-sharing government.

"Unfortunately, there’s been no progress because the very same 
outstanding issues on the agenda... are the same issues that are 
creating this impasse," the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader 
told reporters.

"We are committed to the power-sharing government, subject to the 
resolution of these issues," he added.

Following yesterday’s failed talks, leaders of the 15-nation SADC agreed 
to hold a new summit next Monday, January 26, in a fresh bid to break 
the deadlock, the group’s executive secretary Tomaz Salomao told reporters.

For Tsvangirai, one key point that has to be resolved is the 
distribution of key cabinet posts such as the home affairs ministry, 
which is responsible for the police.

Mugabe, who unilaterally gazetted ministerial appointments last year, 
told reporters that it had been the MDC’s refusal to agree to the 
swearing-in of Tsvangirai and deputies had led to the failure of the talks.

"We agreed to that proposal from SADC ... but MDC-T (Tsvangirai) did 
not. They came with counter-proposals, so the meeting broke down," he said.

Mugabe, who on Sunday had threatened to cut off the talks, nevertheless 
said that both sides would keep talking ahead of next Monday’s regional 
summit.

"We will continue with discussions here at home," he said, after 
yesterday’s talks, which were mediated by South African President 
Kgalema Motlanthe.

"We shall continue to exchange ideas and see where the differences are 
with the SADC proposal."

Regional leaders see the unity pact as the best chance for breaking 
Zimbabwe’s political deadlock and curbing the once-prosperous nation’s 
stunning economic collapse.

The SADC proposal at yesterday’s talks suggested that outstanding issues 
could be dealt with by a joint grievance committee outlined in 
September’s power-sharing deal, and by the inclusive government after 
formation.

But MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP today that the swearing-in of 
Tsvangirai and his deputies was "putting the cart before the horse.

" The key conflict areas needed to be resolved", he said. "It’s crucial 
where there is mistrust. We do not want to go into a government as a 
ritual," he said.

Tsvangirai argues that since his party won a majority in parliament and 
he defeated Mugabe during a first-round presidential vote in March, the 
MDC should wield more influence in government.

The result of the first round of the presidential election was followed 
by a brutal wave of political violence that left more than 180 people 
dead, mostly MDC supporters, according to Amnesty International.

Citing the violence, Tsvangirai pulled out of the second-round run-off, 
leaving Mugabe to declare a one-sided victory in June.

Since then, Zimbabwe has plunged ever deeper into crisis. More than 
2,200 people have died of cholera, caused mainly by broken water and 
sewage pipes in the city and refuse that has laid uncollected for months.

The impasse has further dimmed the chances for ordinary Zimbabweans to 
ease their daily struggles, with half the population dependent on food 
aid and battling astronomical levels of hyperinflation.

***

(For some reason this was sent out by Nelson Chamisa, though it appears 
to be the agreement the MDC just rejected.)

AGREEMENT AMONG THE ZIMBABWE POLITICAL LEADERS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION

OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ZIMBABWE NATIONAL UNION PATRIOTIC FRONT
(ZANU PF) AND THE TWO MOVEMENTS FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC FORMATIONS
ON RESOLVING THE CHALLENGES FACING ZIMBABWE. HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO
AS THE AGREEMENT

After consultations held in Harare, Zimbabwe on the 19 January 2009
the principals hereby agree to the following:

1.	To proceed immediately with the formation of an inclusive
governments as prescribed in the agreement

2.	To support the adoption of the Constitutional of zimbabwe amendment
19 at the sitting of Parliament on Tuesday 20 January 2009

3.	To swear in the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Ministers by
the 24th of January 2009

4.	The MDC-T shall submit a draft bill of the National Security
Council for consideration by the 24th of January 2009

5.	At the end of the contracts of the incumbent Governors or should
vacancies arise the post will be shared amongst the Parties according
to an agreed formula

6.	The allocation of ministerial portfolios shall be reviewed six
months after the inauguration of the Cabinet as per the decision of
the SADC Extra-Ordinary Summit held in Sandton South Africa on 9
November 2008

7.	Outstanding issues raised by the MDC-T shall be dealt with-

a.	in terms of article XXII, Paragraph 22.4 of the Agreement which states:
"(Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee) JOMIC shall be the
principal bodies dealing with the issues of compliance and monitoring
of this Agreement. And to that end the Parties hereby undertake to
channel all complaints, grievances, concerns and issues relating to
the compliance with this Agreement through JOMIC and to refrain from
any conduct which might undermine the spirit of co-operation necessary
for the fulfillment of this Agreement"

And/Or

b.	By the inclusive Government after its formation


In the WITNESS WHEREOF the Parties have signed this Agreement in the
English Language and six (6) identical copies, all texts being equally
authentic


DONE AT HARARE, ON THIS……………….DAY OF…………………….2009