Zimbabwe’s MDC has ended its boycott of the new unity government and will give Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a month to fully implement their power-sharing deal, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday.
The decision, at an extraordinary Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting, ended the worst political crisis since the administration was formed in February.
“We have suspended our disengagement from the GPA [Global Political Agreement] with immediate effect and we will give President Robert Mugabe 30 days to implement the agreement on the pertinent issues we are concerned about,” he told reporters after a regional summit.
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) began boycotting Cabinet meetings with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF last month in a dispute over the implementation of the power-sharing deal they reached after a disputed election.
Western donors are reluctant to send funds to Zimbabwe until a stable government creates a democracy that can implement political and economic reforms.
The meeting summit attended by Swaziland’s King Mswati III, Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Zambian President Rupiah Banda and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa urged Zimbabwe’s political leaders to “engage in a dialogue with immediate effect”.
Old foes Mugabe and Tsvangirai also took part.
Asked what would happen if Mugabe did not fully implement the power-sharing, Guebuza said the next round of talks would be evaluated and then a decision would be made on how to proceed. He did not elaborate.
Zimbabwe’s government has managed to stabilize an economy ravaged by hyperinflation, but is still severely strained by political disputes likely to keep foreign investors away.
Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe of being a “dishonest and unreliable partner” for refusing to implement power-sharing fully, particularly regarding senior appointments such as the central bank governor.
The MDC also accuses ZANU-PF of persecuting MDC officials and holding back media and constitutional reforms which are vital for holding free and fair elections in about two years.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS