Could there finally be some hope for Zimbabwe? I hope so. It seems like the two political parties in Zimbabwe have decided to sit down and talk. Mugabe’s, Zanu-PF and both factions of the Movement for Democratic Change are set to sign a memorandum of understanding outlining the framework for talks in Harare tomorrow (20 July). This comes off the back of Friday’s news that South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, called upon ‘help’ to help him as the mediator to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis. Mbeki was appointed mediator for the Zimbabwe crisis by SADC and he has now called upon the United Nations, the African Union and SADC to help with negotiations. It was starting to prove rather difficult for Mbeki to do the job alone and in him inviting others to help in the process, this goes to show that there may now be some progress in resolving the crisis.
The appointment of other mediators is a welcome move especially from MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai who had asked there to be other mediators besides Thabo Mbeki. So now that the MDC is willing to talk to ZANU PF, will this bring about any change? The answer to this question will only be known once the two parties have sat down with mediators and try to resolve the crisis. Both parties will clearly have their own ‘wish list’ containing what they want and somehow I do not see the two parties agreeing with one another that easily. This is where the mediators come in so they can try strike a balance between the wishes of the two.
Looking at the MDC; their ‘wish list’ will probably state that they want a re-run of the elections in a manner that is free and fair. That would mean having international observers and probably UN peace keepers to prevent any violence and intimidation taking place. The MDC would also want all its members who have been arrested to be released from prison. This, I think ZANU PF would agree to as they released the MDC secretary general, Tendai Biti from prison.
On the other side, ZANU PF would want the MDC to recognise that Robert Mugabe is the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe and that any government of national unity would have to have Mugabe as the leader. I can not see how a government of national unity could work if both parties do not agree to each others terms especially if one party is saying we are the legitimate leader and the other is saying we do not recognise him as the legitimate leader.
I think first thing’s first; let us wait to see if both parties agree to sign this agreement to talk and then we take it from there. Once the talks start then hopefully we will be in a better position to see what the way forward would be.
