From The Star (SA), 16 April
Little real agreement at bloc party
Fiona Forde
More than 12 hours of intense and often bitter debate in Lusaka this weekend appear to have divided the Southern African Development Community on the Zimbabwe crisis, rather than bringing it closer to a solution to the weeks-long electoral impasse. And it is a divide that has cast a sharp light on the cracks in the 28-year-old community that separates a new progressive front from the old guard. Rather than address the issue of how best to deal with a man who refuses to relinquish three decades of power, the conservative front of the 14-member bloc - Thabo Mbeki among them - appears to have got lost instead in its fears of Morgan Tsvangirai, the head of the trade-union-backed MDC, who, like it or not, has made massive inroads into Zimbabwean politics. The SADC leaders closed the doors of their emergency meeting shortly before 5pm on Saturday afternoon. And it was at 5.10am the next morning when they emerged with a resolution in their hands that merely called on Zimbabwe to hasten the verification and release of the March 29 presidential election results and appealed to all parties to accept the verdict of their state-run electoral authority. In the event of a recount, the SADC has offered to send its Election Observer Mission to monitor the process. Yet there was no mention of the fact that the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission was moved to a private location more than a week ago - hence there is no knowing what became of the original votes, or indeed whatever became of the 3-million extra ballot papers that were printed in the run-up to the controversial election.
There was nothing in the disappointing document that reflected Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's promising remarks hours earlier when he told the opening ceremony that standing by and doing nothing was no longer an option where Zimbabwe was concerned. It was time to shed light on the darkness and allow our neighbours to turn a new leaf, he said. Indeed, there was nothing in the final document that ever veered too far away from Thabo Mbeki's own stance of quiet diplomacy. With the exception of a call for an immediate release of the results, it seemed to offer a verdict that our outgoing president will no doubt read as a victory for himself, just as Robert Mugabe has undoubtedly interpreted it as a weak effort on the part of his regional peers to rein him in. The ink was hardly dry on the communique when the Harare High Court ruled against the MDC's challenge to the delayed release of the results. "It was the best we could do under the circumstances," SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao told Independent Newspapers after the meeting ended. Zambia's Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande said the SADC is of the view that "there is no crisis" in Zimbabwe, echoing Mbeki's controversial words from Harare on Saturday morning. If such is their view, then it is clear that the SADC is not the power to turn to for crisis management in the region. But it begs the question as to why they called an emergency summit in the first place and what happened behind the scenes to dampen Mwanawasa's earlier promise to speak up rather than stay quiet. "He and many others did speak out," a delegate of the Mauritian team told Independent Newspapers, "but the problem is that the voices of the new blood are lost in the blanket of old conservatism."
Present on Saturday were eight heads of state, among them presidents from Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Angola, Malawi and Botswana, whose recently elected Ian Khama is a newcomer to the group. The remaining SADC countries of Tanzania, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Mauritius were represented by ministers or ambassadors. No man was alone - they each brought with them an army of advisers and officials. It is understood that Botswana, Malawi and Mauritius had repeatedly pushed for a more hardened stance in dealing with the 84-year-old Mugabe. Khama has rarely been reticent in recent weeks in speaking out about his support for Tsvangirai and his belief that the time has come for change. On the other hand, Malawi is widely seen as a friend of Simba Makoni, and if not a clear backer of Tsvangirai, Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika shares Khama's view that Mugabe's term in office ended a long time ago.
The moderate voice of Mwanawasa often reflected their thinking throughout the day and it was assumed that Tanzania would have followed suit. Unfortunately in the absence of President Jakaya Kikwete, "the Tanzanians said very little", one South African delegate said. They met with heavy resistance from Mozambique's Armando Guebuza, Joseph Kabila of the DRC and Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia throughout the day, and to the surprise of many, Lesao Lehohla, the deputy prime minister of Lesotho, who stayed firmly on the side of the Zimbabwean delegation. However, "the one who surprised us most was Angola", according to one delegate from Malawi. "They went with the flow all day and didn't put up any resistance." Although Jose Eduardo dos Santos is widely seen as an ally of Mugabe - and who this time last year offered to send troops to Zimbabwe in the wake of unrest - his position is said to have changed dramatically in recent weeks and it is understood that he, too, believes a change of leadership is in the best interests of the region. However, as he goes into his own elections later this year, Dos Santos is strategic in his positioning as he will be mindful not attract too much attention to a hardline view at this point in time.
Yet all delegates repeatedly found themselves challenged by a number of leaders, Mbeki among them, who are loathe to endorse a Tsvangirai presidency for fear of trade unionism taking hold in the region, and who are equally reluctant to stand up to or criticise veteran liberation icons. But their positions were rarely tolerated by Mwanawasa and, for the first time, Mbeki watched his seniority in the camp erode. A number of times throughout the day he was taken to task by his Zambian counterpart, who is also the chairperson of the SADC and who repeatedly appealed for honest brokerage where Zimbabwe was concerned. On more than one occasion, he called on Mbeki to be "sincere" in his approach. "Mbeki kept flip-flopping. He would argue with one side, then with the other. But Mwanawasa wouldn't take it," a member of the Angolan delegation explained. The Zambian leader had made it clear from the onset that it was an emergency summit that required an urgent response. He refused to accept Mugabe's input to the meeting, which came by way of Mbeki. "If Robert Mugabe has anything to say to me as chairperson, then he can talk to me himself," Mwanawasa retorted, reminding Mbeki that he was creating the impression that he was becoming "Mugabe's messenger". The two men all but came to blows later in the night when Mbeki showed reluctance in allowing Tsvangirai to address the meeting, although it had apparently been talked of in advance. Mwanawasa told him as much, reminding the South African president that they had discussed it by phone a couple of days before the summit. "Would you like the whole house to hear the contents of our conversation?" he boldly asked an irate Mbeki, stopping short of accusing him of peddling mistruths.
While it was clearly reasonable for many delegates to argue that Tsvangirai could not be afforded equal status as SADC heads of state, it was agreed that his input was crucial to understanding both sides of the saga, and it was late on Saturday night when he and Simba Makoni finally addressed the group, "in an informal meeting", Salamao was quick to note. It was Mutharika of Malawi who reminded the house that "we don't need to take our understanding of what's happening in Zimbabwe from CNN and international news channels. We have a man next door who can explain it to us instead." Tsvangirai was taken from the ante-room and during the hour-long session reiterated his claims of recent weeks. It is understood that the DRC and Mozambique told him that just because he had won the parliamentary elections, it did not make him the winner of the presidential poll. It presented Makoni with an opportunity to lay claim to his belief that he would be an ideal candidate to lead a transitional government to move beyond what he termed "a hung parliament". But it was Mbeki who reminded him that it was both inconceivable and illegal to step up to the presidential podium with just a tenth of the electorate behind him. Throughout the day, the Zimbabwean delegates sought an opportunity to sway the SADC. "They painted a complete picture, which we hadn't seen before," said JT Metsing, the principal secretary of Lesotho's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Zimbabwean delegates claimed the MDC was strategically attempting to delay the release of the results with their various court challenges. They argued that it was improper for Tsvangirai to announce himself the presidential winner without any legal basis to his argument, a line that found favour among many of the hardline delegates.
They proceeded to tell the meeting that Tsvangirai's men had blatantly falsified figures and stole votes in the MDC man's favour while they were being telephoned through to Harare from the various polling stations. In Mwanawasa's view, this was stretching their imagination just a tad too far. The chairperson reminded his guests of his legal background and understanding of how the vote counting had worked. He reiterated claims that the events of recent weeks were not acceptable and he and Ian Khama began to push hard for a communique that would condemn Zimbabwe first and foremost before instructing the country on what to do next. They argued into the wee hours that it was imperative that Mugabe understands that there is little tolerance left in the region for his blatant disregard of democracy. They accepted defeat at 5am in the morning. Condemnation would not feature on the SADC communique. Although their reasoning is nowhere to be seen in the four-page document, they have delivered an important message to their SADC peers that the community is no longer a club of iconic liberation heroes of yesteryear.
