Mugabe 'not in the dock'
2008-04-12 17:05
Lusaka - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa said on Saturday it would be wrong to turn a blind eye on Zimbabwe at the start of a key summit which he said was not intended to put Robert Mugabe in the dock.
"SADC cannot stand by and do nothing when one of its members is experiencing political and economic pain," said Mwanawasa, the current chair of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"It would be wrong to turn a blind eye," he said, but added that the Lusaka summit was "not intended to put President Mugabe in the dock".
Mwanawasa called the summit earlier in the week to respond to the political deadlock in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections. A fortnight after the presidential poll, no result has been announced.
Run-off
Mugabe's ruling party says none of the candidates passed the 50% threshold so there will be a run-off, but the opposition claims Morgan Tsvangirai won outright and has ruled out their leader's participation in any second ballot.
"I wish at this critical juncture to appeal to the Zimbabwe leaders, both of (the ruling) Zanu-PF and the opposition to embark with humility and seize the opportunity to turn over a new leaf in their beloved country," Mwanawasa said.
"Our concern in the SADC region is that the failure on behalf of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to announce the results of the presidential election... has given rise to a climate of tension in the country.
"This has further been aggravated by the inability of the high court of justice to settle the matter speedily and this situation has left the people of Zimbabwe... the region, and the international community in the dark as to who won the recent election."
Mwanawasa was referring to an opposition legal bid to force the commission to declare the result. A ruling on the case is expected on Monday.
Front-row seat
While President Mugabe turned down an invitation to attend the summit, sending a delegation instead, Tsvangirai was the first guest to arrive and was seated in the front row.
After Mwanawasa's opening remarks, the delegations and eight heads of state present - from Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia - retired to another room for a closed-door meeting.
They were not initially joined by Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe of delaying the result of the election intentionally so he can wage a campaign of intimidation that he says renders a run-off vote undemocratic.