Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai wants to be a powerful prime minister, but would leave the presidency — and command of the military — to President Robert Mugabe to end his country’s protracted political crisis.
Tsvangirai outlined his proposal for resolving the contentious issue of who would lead any unity government in a speech to regional Cabinet ministers gathered on Friday, the eve of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the speech on Saturday, the day the summit opened with Tsvangirai sitting in a prominent position on the floor and Mugabe at the head table with other presidents.
Tsvangirai’s proposal, which he said his Movement for Democratic Change has presented in deadlocked talks with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, would mean a major curbing of the powers Mugabe has wielded since the country gained independence in 1980.
But it also would leave Tsvangirai working closely with a leader he has reviled as a brutal dictator. And after months of attacks on opposition supporters blamed on soldiers and police, the prospect of Mugabe remaining commander in chief was worrisome.
Elphas Mukonoweshuro, Tsvangirai’s foreign policy adviser, acknowledged in an interview on Saturday that there was “a possibility of abuse,” but said regional leaders who were expected to endorse a deal could keep a check on Mugabe.
Southern African leaders gathered yesterday for the final day of a summit overshadowed by the Zimbabwean crisis, with negotiators pushing to reach a deal before the meeting’s end.
At the summit’s opening the previous day, South African President Thabo Mbeki raised the possibility of a settlement before the close of the meeting.
“This summit affords us the possibility to assist the Zimbabwean parties to finalize their negotiations so that together they can engage [in] the work to achieve national healing and reconciliation,” Mbeki said.
Zambian Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande, speaking at the summit, harshly criticized Mugabe’s re-election in the June poll, calling it a “blot on the culture of democracy.”
Hundreds protested in a march by regional trade unions, handing over a memorandum to SADC’s executive secretary saying Mugabe “cannot claim any legitimacy to rule.”
SADC’s troika on security issues agreed late on Friday that a deal to resolve the crisis should be signed during the summit, a foreign minister who attended the meeting said.
“We agreed at the [security] organ that the agreement should be signed within the period of the summit,” said the minister, who declined to be named.
A South African official close to the negotiations said remaining sticking points included whether Mugabe would retain the right to hire and fire ministers and how long a transitional government would remain in place.
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