MPs Call for Govt Stance On Zimbabwe

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

NEWS
24 June 2008
Posted to the web 24 June 2008

By Rodgers Luhwago

Speaker of the National Assembly Samwel Sitta has officially directed the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs to hold a meeting to discuss the fragile political state in Zimbabwe before advancing the matter in the House for deliberation.

The Speaker was forced to issue the directive to the parliamentary standing committee yesterday to discuss the matter following a special request by Kigoma North MP Zubri Zitto Kabwe.

Speaking before Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda read his budget speech for the 2008/09 fiscal year, Mr Kabwe said he had submitted a special request to Mr Sitta asking the House to temporarily shelve some planned activities so legislators could deliberate on the situation in Zimbabwe, where opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a special run-off election against incumbent President Robert Mugabe after deigning the run-off would be unjustly manipulated in favour of Mr Mugabe.

Mr Tsvangirai yesterday took refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare for fear of attempts on his life, according to agency reports.

"Mr Speaker I advanced a special request to you this morning asking for your permission so that Members of Parliament can use this opportunity to discuss the state of politics in Zimbabwe and now I would like to get a response as far as my request is concerned," Mr Kabwe said.

Responding to the opposition MP's plea, Speaker Sitta said: "It is true that Mr Zitto forwarded his request to me asking this august House to discuss the political situation in Zimbabwe, but I think it is not proper to do that before the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs meets to clear the way for us."

Mr Sitta said it was appropriate for the parliamentary standing committee to hold a special discussion on the matter so that MPs could be enlightened on the subject before the matter gets to the Parliament.

The Speaker did not say, however, exactly when the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs should forward its input to him before the topic moves to the whole House for discussion.

In his request Mr Zitto said that Zimbabwe's decision to recall its ambassador to Tanzania was tantamount to declaring a diplomatic conflict with Tanzania.

"As I am speaking now Zimbabwe has called back its envoy who has been serving here. Strangely enough our government has not taken any action as far as our envoy in Zimbabwe is concerned," said Mr Zitto, adding that the diplomatic hitch that has ensued might put the life of the Tanzanian ambassador in Zimbabwe at risk. The opposition MP said the Government should retaliate by bringing back its envoy.

Recently Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Bernard Membe held a press conference in Dar es Salaam in which he told reporters that Tanzania was not happy with the southern African state.

Mr Membe had said that the tough words from Zanu-PF candidate Mr Mugabe as well those from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidate Mr Tsvangirai showed a clear picture that the re-run polls scheduled for this Friday would not be free and fair.

Already some outstanding leaders in the SADC region - like South African President Thabo Mbeki - have cast doubt on the credibility of the presidential re-run election.

Mr Mbeki went so far as to ask President Mugabe to cancel the election, before Mr Tsvangirai dropped his bid on Sunday.

When asked to explain the stance of the AU chairman, State House spokesperson Salvatory Rweyemamu said: "So far the matter is being handled by the foreign affairs ministry. The President will be able to speak on Zimbabwe after two days."

Contacted yesterday, Ministry of Foreign and International Affairs spokesperson Asah Mwambene said Tanzania is still waiting for the outcome of the Angola meeting, which started yesterday, before issuing its stand.

"We shall issue the statement on Tuesday about our stand after the Angola meeting, which was held yesterday to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis," Mr Mwambene told The Citizen.

In another development, armed police raided the MDC headquarters yesterday, detaining scores of victims of political violence who sought shelter in the building, MDC spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said.