Related Articles Will Tsvangirai sign on Monday? Statement from SADC on Zimbabwe
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22 July 2008
HARARE (AFP) — Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pledged Monday to draw a line under Zimbabwe's months-long political crisis as they agreed to sit down and resolve their differences.
With long-time mediator South African President Thabo Mbeki looking on, Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a joint agreement on a framework for talks and shook hands in their first meeting in a decade.
"We sit here in order for us to chart a new way, a new way of political interaction," said the 84-year-old Mugabe. Tsvangirai, who pulled out of last month's presidential election citing rising violence against his supporters that left dozens dead and thousands injured, said it was time to put the "bitterness" behind him.
"We are committed to ensuring that the process of negotiation becomes successful. "We want a better Zimbabwe ... If we put our heads together I am sure we can find a solution," he said.
However Tsvangirai, who pushed Mugabe into second place in the first round of voting in March, pointedly refused to refer to the veteran leader as anything more than president of the ruling party.
According to a copy of the memorandum of understanding seen by AFP, the two sides have set themselves a two-week time frame to wrap up the talks which are expected to take place in both South Africa and Zimbabwe .
"It is envisaged that the dialogue will be completed within a period of two weeks from the date of signing of this MoU," said the document. The memorandum also makes clear that the ultimate goal is the formation of "an inclusive government." A source in Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said the talks would begin in earnest in South Africa on Tuesday, although there was no immediate confirmation from the Mbeki camp.
"We have agreed that the talks begin tomorrow. We are all travelling to South Africa tomorrow," said the source. In Washington the pact was greeted with cautious optimism and State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos stressed that any talks must reflect the "will of the Zimbabwean people."
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the agreement and urged all sides "to engage, in good faith, in serious talks that would lead to a lasting solution to the political crisis and address the urgent economic and humanitarian needs of the Zimbabwean people." African Union commission chief Jean Ping meanwhile urged both parties "to build on this positive development and move forward towards a lasting and consensual solution."
Mbeki, who has faced heavy criticism for a previous lack of obvious progress in his mediation efforts, said all parties wanted a rapid resolution to the dispute sparked by the elections in March. "It commits the negotiating parties to an intense programme of work to try and finalise the negotiations as quickly as possible," said the South African leader, whose face beamed during the signing.
"All the Zimbabwean parties recognize the urgency of the matters they are discussing and all are committed to trying to complete this process as quickly as possible," he added. Commentators have said the biggest sticking point will be the reluctance of either Tsvangirai or Mugabe to accept a position seen as inferior to the other. Comments by Mugabe regarding the need to amend the former British colony's constitution will fuel speculation of an agreement similar to that which recently brought an end to a post-election dispute in Kenya -- namely the creation of a new post of prime minister.
"We agreed ... that our constitution as it is should be amended variously," said Mugabe. The meeting between the two men was their first since Tsvangirai formed his MDC at the end of 1999. The former trade union leader has twice been charged with treason and needed hospital treatment for head injuries last year as he was assaulted by members of the security forces ahead of an anti-government rally.
The pair's bitterness hit new heights during the course of the election run-off when Tsvangirai was detained on five separate occasions while campaigning and his number two, Tendai Biti, was arrested for treason. The MDC leader subsequently pulled out of the contest after dozens of his party's supporters were killed in attacks that he blamed on pro-Mugabe thugs. Ignoring widespread calls to shelve the ballot, Mugabe went ahead and staged the poll, winning a predictable landslide victory.
Once seen as a post-colonial success story, the former British colony's economy has been in meltdown since Mugabe began a land reform programme at the turn of the decade and annual inflation now stands at some 2.2 million percent. Unemployment is running at around 80 percent and even basics such as bread and cooking oil are scarce in the region's former breadbasket.
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