Talks resume Monday as SA facilitation team arrive in Zimbabwe

By Violet Gonda
8 February 2010

The inter-party negotiations between the political partners in government over the implementation of outstanding issues re-started on Monday evening, after being adjourned on January 21st.

One of the negotiators Welshman Ncube from the MDC-M said they had also received an invitation to a meeting with the South African facilitation team at 3pm on the same day, before the scheduled inter-party meeting which was expected to start at 6pm. Speaking before the meeting with the South Africans, Ncube told SW Radio Africa: “We don’t know what they are going to discuss or what’s going to be on the agenda because we didn’t request it. They requested it. So we presume they will control what’s on the agenda.”

According to the monitoring group Veritas, the South African facilitation team is in Harare to assess the position of the talks and report back to President Jacob Zuma ahead of a visit by him to Harare tentatively scheduled for 13th February.

Veritas quotes Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai saying: “I have said to our party representatives let's finalise this, let's not procrastinate ….let's see what we have agreed and what we have not agreed….Therefore we are able to say to President Zuma and SADC that ZANU-PF is refusing to implement, and therefore as far as we are concerned the only solution is that let's agree on a road map to an election.”

The talks have been marred by various delays with negotiators from the three parties asking time off to do other business. ZANU PF also indicated recently they would not concede to any further demands from the MDC until the sanctions are removed.

When asked to comment about this, Ncube responded by saying: “As far as we are concerned, each and every party does a bit of grandstanding from time to time for the purpose of its supporters. And ZANU PF, as far as some of us are concerned, are doing their grandstanding – just as much as the MDC-T has from time to time been grandstanding about deadlines and counter deadlines. That is grandstanding, and each political party is doing that. I don’t think we should take them seriously.”

There has been no tangible movement on issues deeply dividing the parties, and Ncube confirmed that there were about 27 outstanding issues, although he would not reveal the details. The contentious issues include the appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General, the swearing in of MDC Deputy Minister of Agriculture designate Roy Bennett, sanctions, external radio stations and renewed land invasions.

“We are talking about all of them. On some of them we have reached some concessions or preliminary consensus, on others we have not, which is why we adjourned to allow the parties to consult further on those areas where we have still some distance apart, in the hope that with more consultations we will reduce the gap between the parties,” said Ncube.

Meanwhile, newspaper reports say the principals in the inclusive government met last Friday and agreed on Commissions, whose members will be sworn in this week. The Standard newspaper said Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara met for nearly seven hours and agreed on the Electoral and the Human Rights Commissions. Former High Court judge, Justice Simpson Mtambanengwe was named as the Chair of the Electoral Commission, while Human Rights will be chaired by former UN Chief Electoral Officer to Cambodia Professor Reg Austin.