South Africa was close to brokering a deal that would see Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai negotiate a unity government, a South African newspaper said yesterday.
The report came as African leaders prepared to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis at an African Union (AU) summit in Sharm El-Sheikh amid calls for the continent to condemn Mugabe for holding a one-candidate presidential election marred by violence.
Mugabe, 84, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sunday after election authorities announced he had won a landslide victory in a one-candidate presidential run-off ballot that was boycotted by Tsvangirai.
PHOTO: AP
African leaders are expected to push for talks on a power-sharing deal between Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has mediated between the two sides for more than a year, was on the verge of just such a breakthrough, the Business Day newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.
“The plan involves getting Mugabe and Tsvangirai to work together to implement agreements between ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change made in January. These include a new constitution and other reforms,” it said.
Mbeki spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga refused to comment on the report.
“We’ve been in talks with both parties. I can’t talk about the specific details,” he said.
South Africa favors such an arrangement, which could be modeled on the power-sharing deal that ended post-election violence in Kenya this year.
It could also avert a split in the AU, which appears divided over how to deal with Mugabe. Some countries, primarily in east and west Africa, want the summit to take a tough stand on the Zimbabwean ruler, while its closest neighbors oppose the move.
Most African leaders have walked a fine line on Zimbabwe’s political crisis with only a few criticizing Mugabe, still seen by many in Africa as a hero of the anti-colonial struggle.
The possibility of political violence in the aftermath of the election last week, however, has forced the AU to consider the issue at the summit. Mugabe is among the leaders attending the meeting.
Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission and Africa’s top diplomat, told journalists on Monday that the Zimbabwe election could be a subject of discussion yesterday.
The summit is unlikely to back a US-led push at the UN for sanctions against Mugabe, including an arms embargo. The US and Britain have imposed financial and travel sanctions against the Zimbabwean leader and his top officials.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the presidential vote on March 29, but failed to win an absolute majority.
The MDC leader reluctantly agreed to participate in the June 27 runoff but pulled out less than a week before because of violence in which he said nearly 90 of his followers were killed. He was arrested five times during the campaign.
Monitors from the Southern African Development Community and the Pan-African parliament said the vote was undermined by the bloodshed and did not reflect the will of the people.
The Dutch foreign ministry said yesterday that Tsvangirai had left the Dutch embassy in Harare, where he had sought refuge more than a week ago.
“He left yesterday morning. He wants to do his regular work from home,” ministry spokesman Bart Rijs said.
Tsvangirai had taken shelter at the mission citing pre-poll violence against his supporters ahead of a run-off presidential election.
“The embassy will stay in close contact with Mr Tsvangirai, also concerning his security,” Rijs said.
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