Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF Challenges Southern African Regional Summit Resolution
Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos is said to have commented that Zimbabwe needs to put democratic mechanisms in place
ZANU-PF has instructed its negotiators to formally challenge the SADC resolution instructing its troika to name a delegation of three to bolster Harare's Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party is accusing the Southern African Development Community of exploiting Mr. Mugabe's early departure from last week's SADC summit in Luanda, Angola, to add resolutions to the final communiqué which had not been agreed upon by all of the region's leaders, party and diplomatic sources said Tuesday. ZANU-PF has instructed its negotiators – Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Transport Minister Nicholas Goche – to formally challenge the SADC summit resolution instructing its troika on defense, politics and security to name a delegation of three to bolster Harare's Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee which tracks compliance by the three Zimbabwean co-governing parties with the 2008 Global Political Agreement. Mr. Mugabe and his 40-member delegation left Luanda before the communique was released. But SADC sources say Mr. Mugabe left because he was unhappy things were not going in his way. His supposed ally, Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, newly installed as SADC chairman, said in reference to Zimbabwe, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo that those countries need to put democratic mechanisms in place and to understand that “ power can be held through free and fair elections.” SADC sources said President Dos Santos backed the resolution giving South African President Jacob Zuma wide-ranging powers to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe. Mr Zuma himself said the Southern African region was getting impatient with the seemingly intractable crisis in Harare. Reached for comment, ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said SADC must not impose decisions on Harare. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Advocacy Officer Dewa Mavhinga said ZANU-PF wants to frustrate SADC and delay key reforms in Zimbabwe. Elsewhere, Job Sikhala, head of the Movement for Democratic Change splinter party called MDC 99, demanded in a news conference Tuesday that a transitional authority be put in place to organize new elections, failing which the Zimbabwean people should stage a a rebellion against the administration of President Mugabe.