...More than this its power transfer than power sharing
This is the document detailing the role of a Prime Minister in an envisaged "Inclusive Government" in Zimbabwe. The leaked document was sent anonymously to New Zimbabwe.com, and verified as authentic with several sources.MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has so far declined to sign this document, saying his powers are insufficient.
All but three of the President's powers as set out in the Constitution of Zimbabwe are now cross-referenced either with the Prime Minister, Cabinet or both (SEE MUGABE'S POWERS BEFORE POWER SHARING). The remaining presidential powers are the power to declare a state of emergency, the power to make pardons and the power to declare war or make peace. Those three, however, still require the president to consult Cabinet. More...
Related Article: Ncube: Zanu PF power-sharing offer 'practicable'
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tsvangirai flip-flops over Parliament, parties fight over Speaker
WHICH IS WHICH: Tsvangirai said he had no objections to parliament reconvening on Tuesday, but on Thursday, he said he was totally opposed.
By Lebo Nkatazo, NewZimbabwe.com
ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai performed a spectacular U-turn on Thursday by warning that President Robert Mugabe risked scuttling power-sharing talks if he goes ahead with the opening of parliament next Tuesday. More...
By Lebo Nkatazo, NewZimbabwe.com
ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai performed a spectacular U-turn on Thursday by warning that President Robert Mugabe risked scuttling power-sharing talks if he goes ahead with the opening of parliament next Tuesday. More...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
SADC Free Trade Area Launched...on schedule
By Thabo Mbeki
President, Republic of South Africa
17 August 2008, Sandton, South Africa
Indeed, today, we reach an extraordinary milestone in our collective and ongoing integration programme in SADC. As you know, we embarked on this path when, in 1996, we adopted the Maseru Trade Protocol, which initiated negotiations towards a SADC free trade area. After four years of complex and sometimes difficult engagement, we concluded the negotiations, and the Trade Protocol entered into force in January 2000.
Implementation commenced in September 2000, in terms of which, according to the Protocol, we agreed that we would achieve a Free Trade Area over a period of eight years. More...
Source: Department of Foreign Affairs, South Africa
President, Republic of South Africa
17 August 2008, Sandton, South Africa
Indeed, today, we reach an extraordinary milestone in our collective and ongoing integration programme in SADC. As you know, we embarked on this path when, in 1996, we adopted the Maseru Trade Protocol, which initiated negotiations towards a SADC free trade area. After four years of complex and sometimes difficult engagement, we concluded the negotiations, and the Trade Protocol entered into force in January 2000.
Implementation commenced in September 2000, in terms of which, according to the Protocol, we agreed that we would achieve a Free Trade Area over a period of eight years. More...
Source: Department of Foreign Affairs, South Africa
SADC: Communiqué of the Extraordinary Summit of the Organ
The Extraordinary Summit of the Organ of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was held in Sandton, Republic of South Africa from August 16 to 17, 2008, on the margins of the 28th Ordinary SADC Summit.
It commended the Facilitator, President Thabo Mbeki for his efforts and encouraged him to continue in his mediation efforts and fully support his work;
Expressed strong opinion that documents as contained in the Facilitator’s Report reflect the framework, spirit and purpose of the SADC and AU Resolutions. In view of that, they are a good basis for a global agreement; More...
Related Articles: President Mbeki's Media Conference Notes
It commended the Facilitator, President Thabo Mbeki for his efforts and encouraged him to continue in his mediation efforts and fully support his work;
Expressed strong opinion that documents as contained in the Facilitator’s Report reflect the framework, spirit and purpose of the SADC and AU Resolutions. In view of that, they are a good basis for a global agreement; More...
Related Articles: President Mbeki's Media Conference Notes
Source: South African Foreign Affairs Department
'MDC-T Leader Lied to Us About Zim Situation'
REGIONAL and continental leaders have distanced themselves from MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and accused him of lying to them about the political situation in Zimbabwe, with some of them apologising for their earlier positions on President Mugabe.
Leaders from Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania expressed "embarrassment" at having "blindly supported Tsvangirai" during the 28th Sadc Heads of State Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, after South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who is facilitating talks between Zimbabwe's political parties, gave them a full briefing on what was taking place. More...
Source: AllAfrica.com
Leaders from Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania expressed "embarrassment" at having "blindly supported Tsvangirai" during the 28th Sadc Heads of State Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, after South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who is facilitating talks between Zimbabwe's political parties, gave them a full briefing on what was taking place. More...
Source: AllAfrica.com
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tsvangirai lied about DA donors - Leon
"Tsvangirai solicited and received funding from the DA's key donors in Joburg"...wanted cooperation with DA
"Tsvangirai struck me as engaged, courageous and level-headed. While expressing in private the need for opposition co-operation across the Limpopo, he later publicly changed his tune and started singing in the anti-DA/DP caucus - doubtless encouraged by the ANC," writes Leon.
However, what truly "galled" Leon was the fact that Tsvangirai solicited and received funding from the DA's key donors in Joburg, "whom he visited while claiming he had never done so".
More...
Source: iol.co.za
"Tsvangirai struck me as engaged, courageous and level-headed. While expressing in private the need for opposition co-operation across the Limpopo, he later publicly changed his tune and started singing in the anti-DA/DP caucus - doubtless encouraged by the ANC," writes Leon.
However, what truly "galled" Leon was the fact that Tsvangirai solicited and received funding from the DA's key donors in Joburg, "whom he visited while claiming he had never done so".
More...
Source: iol.co.za
Tsvangirai stalls progress on crucial Zimbabwe talks
Latest demands reverse all agreements signed by his party's appointed negotiators in South Africa
A source close to the talks told New Zimbabwe.com: "Tsvangirai disregarded everything agreed by his negotiators in South Africa. It was like no negotiations had ever taken place. He repudiated all the positions taken in South Africa. He took what others were giving (compromises), but wanted more. It was back to pre-MoU (Memorandum of Understanding)." More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
A source close to the talks told New Zimbabwe.com: "Tsvangirai disregarded everything agreed by his negotiators in South Africa. It was like no negotiations had ever taken place. He repudiated all the positions taken in South Africa. He took what others were giving (compromises), but wanted more. It was back to pre-MoU (Memorandum of Understanding)." More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
The Tragedy of Tsvangirai
"Tsvangirai has always been a hit-and-miss politician—capable of strokes of genius but also prone to periods of wayward and ineffectual leadership". Stephen Chan.
Tsvangirai's main source of advice was the US embassy in Harare, especially after Mugabe's government arrested Biti on treason charges and imprisoned him two weeks before the runoff. The deliberate effect of the arrest was to deprive Tsvangirai of local guidance during the crucial closing stages of the campaign. This became a test of nerve: Zanu-PF wanted to break Tsvangirai's will by isolating him and threatening him physically.
The US embassy sought to fill the gap, and was complicit in Tsvangirai's decisions to withdraw from the elections and seek refuge in the Dutch embassy. The plan was to hand Mugabe a hollow victory which the west could then attack. The US analysis was that the polls had already been fixed so a Tsvangirai victory was impossible. Participation would only legitimise a brazen "steal." The idea was also to create an image of such great intimidation that even a leader of the opposition could find safety from assassination only on diplomatic soil. I want also to say unequivocally that the Americans screwed up.
When Tsvangirai withdrew, Zanu-PF could hardly believe their luck. They were beginning to realise they were on the verge of overplaying their only hand, that of violence. Then, out of the blue, Tsvangirai solved all their problems for them. Contrary to western information, Tsvangirai's consultation of his own party members, who did indeed protest they didn't want to die for nothing, was brief and sketchy. More...
Source: Prospect Magazine
Tsvangirai's main source of advice was the US embassy in Harare, especially after Mugabe's government arrested Biti on treason charges and imprisoned him two weeks before the runoff. The deliberate effect of the arrest was to deprive Tsvangirai of local guidance during the crucial closing stages of the campaign. This became a test of nerve: Zanu-PF wanted to break Tsvangirai's will by isolating him and threatening him physically.
The US embassy sought to fill the gap, and was complicit in Tsvangirai's decisions to withdraw from the elections and seek refuge in the Dutch embassy. The plan was to hand Mugabe a hollow victory which the west could then attack. The US analysis was that the polls had already been fixed so a Tsvangirai victory was impossible. Participation would only legitimise a brazen "steal." The idea was also to create an image of such great intimidation that even a leader of the opposition could find safety from assassination only on diplomatic soil. I want also to say unequivocally that the Americans screwed up.
When Tsvangirai withdrew, Zanu-PF could hardly believe their luck. They were beginning to realise they were on the verge of overplaying their only hand, that of violence. Then, out of the blue, Tsvangirai solved all their problems for them. Contrary to western information, Tsvangirai's consultation of his own party members, who did indeed protest they didn't want to die for nothing, was brief and sketchy. More...
Source: Prospect Magazine
Monday, August 11, 2008
Mutambara Heroes Day Message
"We take exception to the irritating ignorance, political insensitivity, double standards, and patronizing arrogance that characterize Western diplomacy with respect to our country" Arthur Mutambara". - MDC President.
So all this fuss is about White farmer interests in Zimbabwe? Well, that is not our agenda. We are sick and tired of the hypocrisy, double standards, racism and downright dishonesty. The West must not hide its true motive. Where are the Western democratic demands to Egypt, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Israel, Pakistan, and Kuwait? Moreover, what does the record of the US and UK in Iraq, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay teach us? What are the lessons from the ghettos of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles? Who took out Patrice Lumumba, Salvador Allende and Kwame Nkrumah? Who created and nursed Mobutu Sese Seko, Sadam Hussein, Manuel Noriega, Jonas Savimbi and Osama Bin Laden?
More significantly, since it is our Heroes’ Day, why is it that there is not a single ZIPRA, ZANLA, MK or APLA fighter trained in the US or the UK? Why? Why did the Western lovers of democracy and freedom not extend arms of war to Africans in pursuit of the same? We thought the slogan was “Give me freedom or give me death!” and the clarion call “The price of freedom is death.” Western Europe and the USA did not train and arm Zimbabwean freedom fighters. They left the task to the “evil regimes” of China, Cuba, Russia and Eastern Europe. How ironic! Is there an apology for this malignant neglect? If there was no Western motivation to support our liberation war then, why should there be any attention paid to our democratization efforts now? More...
Source: Zimbabwe Guardian
So all this fuss is about White farmer interests in Zimbabwe? Well, that is not our agenda. We are sick and tired of the hypocrisy, double standards, racism and downright dishonesty. The West must not hide its true motive. Where are the Western democratic demands to Egypt, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Israel, Pakistan, and Kuwait? Moreover, what does the record of the US and UK in Iraq, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay teach us? What are the lessons from the ghettos of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles? Who took out Patrice Lumumba, Salvador Allende and Kwame Nkrumah? Who created and nursed Mobutu Sese Seko, Sadam Hussein, Manuel Noriega, Jonas Savimbi and Osama Bin Laden?
More significantly, since it is our Heroes’ Day, why is it that there is not a single ZIPRA, ZANLA, MK or APLA fighter trained in the US or the UK? Why? Why did the Western lovers of democracy and freedom not extend arms of war to Africans in pursuit of the same? We thought the slogan was “Give me freedom or give me death!” and the clarion call “The price of freedom is death.” Western Europe and the USA did not train and arm Zimbabwean freedom fighters. They left the task to the “evil regimes” of China, Cuba, Russia and Eastern Europe. How ironic! Is there an apology for this malignant neglect? If there was no Western motivation to support our liberation war then, why should there be any attention paid to our democratization efforts now? More...
Source: Zimbabwe Guardian
Friday, August 8, 2008
Its the MDC-T strategic blunders stupid!
By Joram Nyathi
THESE are notes in response to Dr Alex Magaisa’s article in the New Zimbabwe.com site titled "Managing the bad news from Pretoria" on the current talks between Zanu PF and the two MDCs. I found the article eloquent in a number of respects but also too indulgent of the MDC’s tendency to play victim even in cases where it makes glaring errors of judgement and loses the game. More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
THESE are notes in response to Dr Alex Magaisa’s article in the New Zimbabwe.com site titled "Managing the bad news from Pretoria" on the current talks between Zanu PF and the two MDCs. I found the article eloquent in a number of respects but also too indulgent of the MDC’s tendency to play victim even in cases where it makes glaring errors of judgement and loses the game. More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
Zanu-PF and MDC Formations sign joint statement to end political violence
...in a progressive move, both parties take blame for violence
"We, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations pursuant to Article 10 of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by our Principals, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zanu PF, Mr. Morgan Richard Tsvangirai of the one MDC formation and Professor Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara of the other MDC formation in Harare on 21st July, 2008, enabling the resumption of dialogue under the auspices of the SADC mediation and supported and endorsed by the African Union in a bid to resolve the challenges and the multiple threats to the well-being of our people hereby unequivocally condemn the promotion and use of violence as a political tool and call for the cessation and end to all politically motivated violence in the country.
The Parties, acknowledging that violence that is attributable to us...
More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
"We, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations pursuant to Article 10 of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by our Principals, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zanu PF, Mr. Morgan Richard Tsvangirai of the one MDC formation and Professor Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara of the other MDC formation in Harare on 21st July, 2008, enabling the resumption of dialogue under the auspices of the SADC mediation and supported and endorsed by the African Union in a bid to resolve the challenges and the multiple threats to the well-being of our people hereby unequivocally condemn the promotion and use of violence as a political tool and call for the cessation and end to all politically motivated violence in the country.
The Parties, acknowledging that violence that is attributable to us...
More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
Memorandum of Understanding: Zanu PF and MDC Formations
PREAMBLE
We the Parties to this Memorandum of Understanding;
Concerned about the recent challenges that we have faced as a country and the multiple threats to the well-being of our people;
Dedicating ourselves to putting an end to the polarisation, divisions, conflict and intolerance that have characterised our country's politics; More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
We the Parties to this Memorandum of Understanding;
Concerned about the recent challenges that we have faced as a country and the multiple threats to the well-being of our people;
Dedicating ourselves to putting an end to the polarisation, divisions, conflict and intolerance that have characterised our country's politics; More...
Source: NewZimbabwe.com
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