---

Robert Mugabe

---

Related news

• South Africa hosts regional summit on Zimbabwe crisis
• SA betrayed its legacy with Zimbabwe - Tutu
• 'Zimbabwe a blot on African credibility" - Mbeki accused
• Mbeki no longer part of talks — Tsvangirai
• We will not be bulldozed - MDC

-Advertisement-

EDITORIAL— A FEW weeks before Christmas, with power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe's Zanu (PF) and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) hopelessly deadlocked, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) passed a resolution calling on the parties to put aside their differences and form a government of national unity.

There was considerable support for this stance in the region -- SA's ruling African National Congress (ANC) was squarely behind the resolution, suggesting that MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had made his bed in September by agreeing to participate in a unity government, and that he must now lie on it no matter how lumpy it may have turned out to be.

And former South African president Thabo Mbeki, eager to prove that his much-maligned mediation efforts had not been in vain, penned a sharp letter to Tsvangirai, in which he all but accused him of being a lackey of western imperialism for insisting that details such as cabinet appointments should be finalised before he would join the executive as prime minister.

Indeed, such was the frustration arising from the protracted political stalemate in Zimbabwe, and especially its dreadful toll on the people of the country in terms of death by starvation and disease, that this newspaper suggested that Tsvangirai had little choice but to get involved, and worry about dotting the i's later.

With the benefit of hindsight, that was a mistake born of impatience, of too many years of leaders fiddling while Zimbabwe burned. Forming a unity government under duress may have relieved some of the political pressure on Tsvangirai and his beleaguered supporters, and it may have eased the process of getting food aid to the country's starving rural population and medical assistance to its thousands of cholera victims. But leaving effective power in Mugabe's hands would not have been a lasting solution. In fact, it would have hobbled the MDC politically and discredited Tsvangirai in the eyes of Zimbabweans by forcing him to become part of the repressive status quo. He was right to resist joining a unity government on Mugabe's blatantly biased terms, and Mbeki, the ANC and SADC were wrong to pressure him to do so.

Fast forward to the present, and they are about to repeat the mistake. This week's attempt to revive negotiations has again failed, and SADC is due to meet on Monday to discuss the way forward. On past form, it seems likely that Tsvangirai will again be painted as the villain, with Mugabe's vow to go it alone receiving implicit regional support.

We urge the regional leadership to think carefully before choosing such a course. Zimbabwe's economic and social rehabilitation cannot take place without international -- specifically western -- support, and that will not be forthcoming as long as Mugabe clings to power. Endorsing a Zanu (PF) dominated unity government would merely weaken a democratically elected leader and prolong Zimbabweans' agony. The country has paid too dear a price over too many years to sell it short now.

Mugabe would be well advised to take US President Barack Obama's inauguration speech to heart: "To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the west -- know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

-Advertisement-