The call came amid reports that South African President Jacob Zuma was set to visit the country on Tuesday to assess the state of a power-sharing agreement set up to end a decade-long political and economic crisis.
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa , told News24 that his party hoped Zuma would unlock the deadlock between Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations.
“We’ve just received information through the media reports that President Jacob Zuma is coming and we hope that he will unlock the deadlock. We’ve had a deadlock in the implementation of agreements in the GPA (Global Political Agreement) and we hope that these issues are going to be dealt with and make sure that the government is saved from danger,” Chamisa said.
He said the people of Zimbabwe were tired of the “delaying tactics used by Zanu-PF to buy time so as to de-energise the nation. Unfortunately our guarantors are also becoming victims of these strategies”.
Chamisa said it was unfortunate that Zanu-PF was “falsely” telling the world that sanctions were the problems rattling the country’s government of national unity.
“Let’s implement the agreements in the GPA and the rest will follow. The hope is to be able to enhance the credibility of this government and prepare for non-violent elections,” Chamisa said.
President Zuma is expected to hold a meeting with the three principals in the global political agreement – President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. Reports say that Zuma’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, indicated that Zuma will meet the principals individually and as a group.
Zuma’s visit comes a few weeks after his trip to the United Kingdom, where he reportedly called for international support for Zimbabwe’s troubled coalition.
The MDC has already declared a deadlock on all the outstanding GPA issues and wants them referred back to Zuma.
On the other hand, President Mugabe and his Zanu-PF say the talks should be given time, but have also taken a rigid position not to compromise on anything that is against the resolutions of their December 2009 congress.
The South African leader has made it clear that he wants the parties to “park” the contentious issues around key government appointments, sanctions imposed by western countries, and of late, the stripping of powers of MDC ministers.
- News 24
