MDC calls for extraordinary summit to deal with impasse

By Tichaona Sibanda
20 October 2008

The MDC on Monday boycotted the SADC Troika discussions on Zimbabwe after its leader Morgan Tsvangirai was denied a passport to travel to Swaziland for the summit.
The meeting of the heads of state of Angola, Swaziland and Mozambique, who form the security committee of the Southern African Development Community, is aimed at trying to help the country’ political rivals break a deadlock in negotiations over forming a cabinet.

George Sibotshiwe, Tsvangirai’s spokesman, said the regime gave Tsvangirai an emergency travel document around 5pm on Sunday. This left him with no time to apply for a visa to enable him to travel via Johannesburg on his way to Mbabane. There are no direct flights between Harare and Swaziland.
‘The regime is playing games. This issue of his passport is well known by SADC leaders and as such he (Tsvangirai) will not leave the country unless he’s given a new passport,’ Sibotshiwe said.
Sibotshiwe said the MDC was now calling for a full SADC extraordinary summit to deal with the impasse. He said the Troika summit was now history to them, since their leader was denied an opportunity to attend.
Tsvangirai’s old passport expired earlier this year and all attempts to renew it have been denied. Elphas Mukonoweshuro, the party’s secretary for Foreign Affairs, told Newsreel that Mugabe deliberately created obstacles for Tsvangirai not to attend the Troika meeting. The MDC MP for Gutu South said Tsvangirai battled all week to obtain a valid passport, but failed after the authorities made it clear they were not prepared to issue him a new one.

‘Tsvangirai is not a criminal to be denied a passport. He doesn’t even need to beg for a passport. He is a law abiding citizen of this country and its his basic right to acquire a passport without any impediments,’ Mukonoweshuro said. The party’s chief negotiator Tendai Biti told the media in Johannesburg on Monday that Tsvangirai’s difficulty in obtaining the documents made it clear that Mugabe was not ready to share power. Mugabe and Tsvangirai were due to meet face-to-face again in Mbabane, to try and resolve the four-week impasse over the sharing of cabinet portfolios. The negotiations in Harare, mediated by the former president of South Africa Thabo Mbeki last week, ended in deadlock after Mugabe grabbed all the key ministries for his ZANU PF party.