Zimbabwe: Rivals Set Out Terms for Unity Talks

3 July, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: allAfrica
Business Day (Johannesburg)
3 July 2008
Posted to the web 3 July 2008

Dumisani Muleya
Johannesburg

THE outlines of a negotiation – if not a deal – in Zimbabwe began to form for President Thabo Mbeki yesterday as that country’s two main political protagonists laid down markers in the wake of an African Union (AU) call this week for Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai to form a “unity” government in Harare.

Mugabe’s information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said the incumbent Zanu (PF) had no objections to a unity government, while Tsvangirai ’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rejected the idea, but instead proposed a transitional government leading to new elections, and insisted on the presence of an AU envoy during any negotiations that Mbeki might try to facilitate.

Tsvangirai also said any talks would have to start from the basis that he had won the elections held on March 29 .

While the two sides may seem far apart, they may have [continue reading]