A pincer movement or an embrace?

I’m tired of talking, but that’s what President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia wants to do. He’s calling for an emergency meeting of SADC. The meeting is scheduled to start this Saturday.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who chairs the 14-nation Sadc, said the entire region needed to work together to find a solution. The meeting is due to start on Saturday.

Being the increasingly suspicious person that I am, I can’t help wondering if that is the reason why the High Court ruling on the results has been deferred until Monday?

Zimbabwe’s High Court will rule next Monday on an opposition request to force out the result of the country’s presidential election.

“Conscious of the urgency of the matter, I am of the view that I exert myself to study the submissions, I should be ready with a judgement on Monday,” judge Tendai Uchena said. (Via Sky News.)

On the plus side, Jacob Zuma appears to be less ‘quiet’ on the diplomacy front than Thabo Mbeki. My cynicism is growing, and I wonder how much this postion has to do with support for the Zimbabwean people and democracy in the region, or if its a chance for him to twist the knife in the outgoing president?

I wonder if maybe he knows, like we do, that the opposition has won and Mugabe is on his way out and he’s beginning to establish a relationship with them on those grounds?

Who knows?! I just really hope it’s the latter.

The MDC is still hoping that legal action in the High Court will lead to the immediate release of results.

Mr Zuma said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should have announced the results by now.

“I think keeping the nation in suspense, and as you know, the Zimbabwean issue has become an international issue – it is almost keeping the international community in suspense – I don’t think it augurs very well,” the African National Congress leader said.

Mr Zuma beat President Thabo Mbeki to the leadership of the governing ANC last year, and is favourite to become president new year.

Last weekend, Mr Mbeki, who led mediation efforts last year between President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and MDC, said it was “time to wait”.

It’s all beginning to feel like a pre-written script unfolding.

Has any of these people taken note of the fact that in a democracy, people vote and the winner wins and the loser loses? That the will of the people is what should prevail, not the opinion of regional countries? Silly little idealistic me!

I’m beginning to feel like a pawn in a game played by suit-wearing men, and it makes me sick.

Robert Mugabe must be watching all this unfold too, or maybe he’s on the phone all day coordinating it?

If he isn’t right at the center busily securing his future, how does he feel seeing these small movements?

I think if there’s any possibility that they provoke fear in him, we need to pay attention to what will we see in the next five days: I’m guessing more orchestrated farm invasions, more police on the streets, a few well-timed threats presented through the ever-obliging state media? Mugabe can be very predictable when he lashes out.

At the end of it all I’m left wondering if we’re witnessing a pincer movement jerking into motion, one ready to grip and remove Mugabe. That’s my hope.

My fear is that what we’re seeing is actually yet another of those shameful well-known liberation brotherhood fuzzy-wuzzy ‘I love you so much’ hugs!

This entry was posted by Hope on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 7:17 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.