MDC /ZANU PF mediation talks postponed

By Violet Gonda
4 June 2007

The Mbeki-led initiative hit a snag this past weekend after a meeting between Zimbabwe’s political parties failed to take off. Some sources within the opposition movement confirmed that ZANU PF requested a postponement but declined to comment further. MDC Secretary Generals Professor Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti had been expected to sit at the negotiating table in South Africa with ZANU PF Ministers Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche.

South Africa based political analyst Brian Raftopoulos said not much is getting out about the nature of the talks and it has been unclear as to why the meeting was postponed. There has been a strict media blackout and the political parties are keeping a tight lid on the discussions. This has led civic groups to insist on their inclusion in the talks.

This has resulted in MDC and civic officials meeting in Pretoria this past week to discuss how they can inform each other about the talks and how the civic society can make an input.

Meanwhile the MDC, which was severely weakened by a split in October 2005, has been holding discussions on the issue of unity and election conditions. Sources said that last week the MDC held a roundtable meeting in South Africa, but that also hit a snag on the matter of formalizing the issue of unity.
Raftopoulos said the opposition is going to face many challenges ahead and there are going to be issues that civic groups and opposition may disagree on. “There are huge problems ahead. I think Mugabe feels that he is going into these negotiations to appease his SADC colleagues but clearly it’s going to be very difficult to proceed along the issue of talks. I think at the moment the problem is alternatives to these talks are not clear. It’s not clear what either the opposition or the civics would do apart from the talks.”