Links ~ 7 October 2008
October 7th, 2008
Unity deal was a mistake: MDC (IOL)
A spokesperson for Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday expressed regret that the party signed a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe, without having agreed on the make-up of a unity government. Speaking on South African radio about the three-week delay in the implementation of the historic September 15 agreement, MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said he he thought the party’s “big mistake” was to have signed a deal before the negotiations had been concluded.
MDC urges African leaders to help break Zim impasse (ZimOnline)
Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC party on Monday urged African leaders to intervene to help break a deadlock with President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party over formation of a new unity government. In a statement, the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai rejected claims by state-owned media that new talks to try to form the unity government were planned for later on Monday and accused ZANU PF of negotiating in bad faith and seeking to mislead the public about the talks. “Considering the fact that it is now exactly 21 days after the signing of the global agreement, the cabinet deadlock calls for the urgent help and assistance from SADC (Southern African Development Community) and AU (African Union) as guarantors of the deal to unfreeze the impasse,†the MDC said.
False dawn (Business Day)
FORMER president Thabo Mbeki has his work cut out for him if his position as international mediator in Zimbabwe is to help him salvage any semblance of a legacy. Rudely removed from office shortly after the much-vaunted breakthrough in Zimbabwean political negotiations that resulted in last month’s signing of an interim power-sharing agreement, Mbeki’s controversial approach to the Zimbabwe conundrum is now looking as ineffective as ever. It is becoming apparent that the agreement was concluded in haste for the wrong reasons, not least Mbeki’s desire to prove his detractors wrong: claims of “quiet diplomacy†being vindicated were clearly premature. In fact, it beggars belief that a “deal†could have been announced when there were so many fundamental issues that had not yet been resolved — the two sides can’t even agree on the sticking points, let alone how to resolve them.
Impasse deep-rooted, says MDC (The Zimbabwe Times)
The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed state media reports suggesting that the impasse over the power-sharing deal was now down to resolving differences over the allocation of only two ministries. Instead, so the MDC says, the impasse was much deeper; as the parties remained deadlocked over all key cabinet posts and the issue of governors. The government-controlled Sunday Mail, quoting George Charamba, President Robert Mugabe’s spokesman, reported on Sunday that Zanu-PF and the MDC had agreed on all other cabinet posts except those of Finance and Home Affairs.
Economic crisis throws Zim into ‘information dark age’ (Mail and Guardian)
Zimbabwe’s economic catastrophe is plunging the country into an “information dark age” as newspapers, radio and television become overwhelmed by multimillion percent inflation and the breakdown of infrastructure, according to media analysts. Newspapers have become too expensive for all but a tiny minority, while the state-controlled radio and television monopoly services are stricken by chronic power cuts, says the independent Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ). Zimbabwe is classified by the New York-based international Committee to Protect Journalists as among the 10 worst countries for hostility to freedom of the media.
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (David Miliband) on EU targetted sanctions on Zimbabwe (British Hansard)
[...] Until a new Zimbabwean Government are appointed and that Government show by their action their commitment to reform, EU targeted measures will remain in place. I will discuss the situation in Zimbabwe again with EU Foreign Ministers when we meet on 13 October. We will continue to work within the EU and UN and with African partners to help resolve Zimbabwe’s crisis and to support a positive transition to reform on the ground. Our commitment to the people of Zimbabwe has never been in question and remains constant. What matters now is whether Robert Mugabe and ZANU(PF) can support an agreement that will bring those people relief.
