The Star
December 17, 2007
By Peta Thornycroft
Lusaka – Although Zimbabwe’s repressive media and public assembly laws were set to be profoundly reformed in parliament, a political agreement between Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has not been agreed.
It may never be agreed unless President Robert Mugabe delays elections way beyond the due date of March and allows them to be held under a new constitution.
Yesterday, Zanu-PF leaked information via the state-controlled Sunday Mail that an agreement was due to be signed with the MDC following nearly nine months of South African-facilitated talks.
However, MDC executives have agreed that while they will vote for the reformed laws tomorrow, there will be no agreement. “We will support the amendments because there are great improvements to present laws, but we will be asking our negotiators to go and see (President Thabo) Mbeki to say that Mugabe is being too difficult, impossible,” an official said.
David Coltart, the MDC’s founding legal secretary, who is in SA attending a conference, said yesterday: “Unless there is an agreement regarding a new constitution being introduced prior to the election and a reasonable time period between its introduction and holding an election, then any agreement will not be possible.
“I fear this is yet another cynical ploy of Zanu-PF to subvert the good intentions behind the mediation process.” – Independent Foreign Service