ZANU says succession not on agenda of party meeting

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF holds its annual conference in the southern city of Masvingo on Friday, but has ruled out any debate on the issue of a successor to President Robert Mugabe. "The issue of who will succeed President Mugabe, and how, cannot be a matter for discussion at the conference. That will only arise at [next year's] congress, where leaders, from the president of the party on downwards, will be elected. If there are people who wish succession to dominate the agenda, we are yet to find out how they will do it," ZANU-PF information and publicity chief, Nathan Shamuyarira, told IRIN. Shamuyarira said the main issues to be discussed at the three-day Masvingo conference will be the state of the economy, the progress of land reform, and a report by ZANU-PF's central committee on the activities of the party during the year. However, analysts have pointed out that until the succession issue is settled, there can be no meaningful dialogue between ZANU-PF and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on resolving Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis. "I think what is stopping the possibility of serious national dialogue between the two parties is the fact that there's division within ZANU-PF, and there's a power vacuum. There's a need, first of all, to resolve the leadership issue and the succession debate within ZANU-PF, before the party can come out with some sort of consensus to engage in any meaningful talks with the MDC," said Chris Maroleng, an analyst with South Africa's Institute for Strategic Studies. Debate on the "succession issue" was triggered by Mugabe earlier this year when he called for an open discussion on the subject. That announcement sparked speculation that he planned to quit before his current term ends in 2008, opening the door to the possibility of a government of national unity involving the MDC as a way to resolve the political stalemate and Zimbabwe's international isolation. The death in September of vice-president Simon Muzenda seemed to add impetus to the succession debate which, media reports say, has been marked by serious infighting. It is widely believed that the appointment of a new deputy would give an indication of whom Mugabe would prefer as his successor. But Mugabe is under no constitutional obligation to name Muzenda's replacement. "I think a lot of people see the ZANU congress as an opportunity for President Mugabe to appoint somebody into the vice president position, and also to begin to resolve questions surrounding the succession debate. I would speculate that President Mugabe would not be in a hurry to resolve any of these issues as, firstly, it would mean his would-be successor would be exposed before any real consolidation of his power base has taken place," Maroleng told IRIN. William Bango, spokesman of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, told IRIN on Wednesday that there was "no dialogue between us and ZANU-PF", although MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube had on several occasions met with justice minister Patrick Chinamasa to find ways to revive talks between the two parties. The talks were aborted last year when the MDC refused to withdraw its legal challenge to Mugabe's March 2002 election victory, alleging the result was rigged and the poll invalidated by government-backed violence and intimidation.