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MDC hangs hopes on court ruling
14/04/2008 13:38 - (SA)
Harare - Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai was in South Africa on Monday, where the president had been tasked with seeking a solution to the crisis over who won Zimbabwe's presidential vote.
More than two weeks after the vote that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he won, a Zimbabwean court ruling was expected on his party's petition to force the immediate release of results.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai was in South Africa meeting prominent officials, his spokesperson Nqobizitha Mlilo said. Mlilo refused to name the officials.
At an emergency summit in Zambia over the weekend, regional leaders asked President Thabo Mbeki to continue efforts to mediate between Tsvangirai and longtime leader President Robert Mugabe, accused of undermining democracy and the economy in trying to maintain his 28-year grip on power.
Mbeki 'under pressure'
Mbeki had argued that confronting Mugabe could backfire, and other leaders in the region had followed South Africa's lead. But Mbeki was under increasing pressure to show results.
On Sunday, the chairperson of South Africa's governing African National Congress, Baleka Mbete, offered criticism of Zimbabwe that appeared to break with Mbeki's policy of quiet diplomacy, saying in Cape Town that Zimbabwe's failure to publish election results was an example of a "democratic process gone wrong".
Mbete, the South African National Assembly speaker, was addressing a meeting of members of parliaments from around the world.
She took over as chairperson of the ANC earlier this year along with a number of other leaders within the ANC seen as Mbeki opponents, most prominent among them new ANC president Jacob Zuma.
'We can't remain silent'
Mbeki's handling of Mugabe was becoming a point of contention between the two camps within the ANC, and the result of that internal debate could influence South African government policy on Zimbabwe.
"As parliamentarians, we cannot remain silent when we witness sufferings and violation of human rights," Mbete said Sunday. "We can also not remain silent about the situation in Zimbabwe."
Mbeki, who met with Mugabe on Saturday, said over the weekend that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe.
Developments in Zimbabwe since the March 29 presidential vote had prompted condemnation from Western governments and rights groups, who had documented a wave of politically motivated attacks as Mugabe's administration appeared to be using intimidation to force a victory in an expected runoff vote.
Mugabe's neighbours, though, had been largely silent. The Zambia summit, attended by Mbeki and other regional leaders on Saturday, failed to issue the strong call for results or the condemnation of Mugabe that the MDC was seeking.
Instead, southern African leaders said the results should be verified quickly and in the presence of the candidates or their agents "within the rule of law". Mugabe skipped the summit.
- AP
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Zimbabwe Special Report
