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Zim problems 'exaggerated'
18/08/2007 08:33 - (SA)
Lusaka - Southern African leaders failed on Friday to heed calls for strong action against the embattled Zimbabwean government, saying the ailing country's problems were "exaggerated".
"We... feel that the problems in Zimbabwe have been exaggerated. We feel they will solve their economic problems," Zambian president and chairperson of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), Levy Mwanawasa, told journalists at the end of a two-day heads of state summit in Lusaka, Zambia.
"We are quite satisfied with the report from South African President Thabo Mbeki on the crisis in Zimbabwe," said the Zambian leader, who recently likened neighbouring Zimbabwe to a "sinking Titanic".
Zimbabwe is in the throes of an economic crisis with inflation well past the 5 000% mark, four in five people jobless and 80% of the population living below the poverty threshold.
International calls
The United States called on the leaders from southern Africa to push harder to end the crisis in Zimbabwe.
"We encourage SADC leaders to press vigorously for a sustainable solution to this man-made crisis," State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack said. "The Zimbabwean people deserve nothing less."
McCormack said that while the SADC struggled to bring reforms to Zimbabwe, the Mugabe government had not expressed a similar commitment.
"Its obstructive actions, such as lack of participation in scheduled talks and statements arguing against the need for mediation, have undermined this important initiative," he said.
SADC mandated Mbeki in March to mediate between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC.
Conflicting views
Mbeki reported on progress to the summit, while SADC secretariat executive chairperson Tomaz Salomao briefed heads of state on Zimbabwe's dire economic straits.
Mbeki told a news conference later the rival Zimbabwean parties remained engaged in talks on the basis of a mutually agreed agenda, describing it as "work in progress".
"They... are making progress in these discussions," said the president, adding any breakthrough would be reported to SADC.
"Everybody is interested that when the presidential and parliamentary elections take place in March next year in Zimbabwe, they should be held in an atmosphere that will result in free and fair elections without controversies and so on."
But Mbeki said no conditions or deadlines had been set. "Nobody has talked about conditionalities of anything."
'No reforms necessary'
Mwanawasa said SADC was satisfied that Zimbabwe's existing electoral laws were conducive to free and fair polls.
Mugabe has blamed his country's woes on drought and Western sanctions, but critics say problems started with a controversial government land reform programme that saw thousands of white-owned commercial farms seized and redistributed to landless blacks and government cronies.
Mugabe is also criticised for stifling democracy and overseeing a violent government clampdown on the opposition.
Mbeki said Zimbabwe's economic problems would be looked into urgently, on the basis of Salomao's report, by a committee of finance ministers.
The ministers would discuss the matter with the Zimbabwean government "to pin down in some detail what indeed the region can do with regard to economic recovery".
Before the summit opened, Mugabe's Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Thursday that no political reforms were necessary in his country.
"We have a democracy like any other democracy in this world... I cannot see how a system can be any fairer or more transparent (than it is in Zimbabwe)," he told journalists.
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