Zuma says Zim talks fruitful
2010-03-18 23:03
Special Report
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accused his political rivals of trying to use constitutional reforms to get rid of him, but warned that his Zanu-PF party would reject any changes threatening its future.
A dusty road leads to the village of Wedza, where veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war eke out a meagre living on their farm cooperative, which after a promising start now brings only despair.
Harare - President Jacob Zuma said his talks on Thursday with Zimbabwe's feuding leaders were "fruitful", but revealed no major breakthrough in resolving issues straining Harare's unity government.
"I am very encouraged by the spirit of co-operation displayed by the leaders and all the parties," Zuma said after nearly three hours of round-table talks with Zimbabwe's long-ruling President Robert Mugabe and his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
"I have had fruitful discussions" with the leaders, he said.
"The parties have agreed to a package of measures to be implemented," he said. "I believe that the implementation of this package will take the process forward substantially."
But he gave no indication of what measures had been agreed or when they would be implemented, saying only that negotiators will continue meeting next week to discuss how to reach goals set out months ago.
"The leaders have instructed their negotiating teams to attend to all outstanding matters during their deliberations," he said.
A South African diplomat close to the talks said Zimbabwe's political environment was still not conducive for new polls.
Elections"Although there are concerns that Zimbabwe must hold elections, the situation on the ground must change," the diplomat said.
"Zimbabwe cannot hold elections for the sake of elections, yet the conditions have not changed from the ones we witnessed in June 2008," when the country was engulfed in political violence.
The power-sharing deal called for the creation of committees to oversee reforms in media freedom, human rights and the electoral process.
Those committees were only named in December, and have yet to begin their work in earnest.
Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the party welcomed Zuma's mediation.
"This latest gesture is a positive step in reaching finality, closure and conclusion" of the power-sharing deal, he told AFP. "We hope now the focus will now be... to make sure there is implementation."
Political analyst Takafira Zhou warned that Mugabe could be buying time by dragging out the talks.
"President Mugabe is known for saying 'right' and acting left. He will give the people a semblance of hope when there is no hope," Zhou said.
"Until the outstanding issues are resolved there is nothing to cheer about."
- AFP