Hopes high ahead of talks between ZANU-PF and MDC

Hopes were high on Wednesday that talks between Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would end the power struggle between the two and shift the focus to a much needed economic recovery plan for the country.

South Africa’s Kgalema Motlanthe, secretary general of the ruling African National Congress, and Nigerian diplomat Adebayo Adedeji, arrived in Harare on Wednesday night to bring the two parties together in the wake of the political violence and economic crisis brought on by the 9-11 March poll.

The MDC has rejected President Robert Mugabe’s re-election and is demanding fresh elections.

As the two parties prepared for the meeting, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) Director Munyaradzi Bidi said: "We have high expectations for a new initiative for economic recovery. These meetings should not only be cosmetic ... they must consult people with a framework that contains the interests of the ordinary person. They must translate from policy to actual actions.

"(It) is a step in the right direction. It is not time for political vindictiveness ... it is time to address social ills like food shortages, unemployment, poverty, polarisation in the political environment and political intolerance. We want the tension between the political parties and abroad to cool do ... it’s time for national dialogue."

Reginald Matchaba-Hove, chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network, welcomed talks between the two. "It is a good idea. It should not mean that the MDC is swallowed up by ZANU-PF. It must be an agreement on some transitional arrangement on what must be done now. Hopefully they will come up with a constitution and a new legal framework which could include fresh elections. They must accept that they have a crisis," he said.

Matchaba-Hove said the two parties would probably keep the talks close to their chests and it would be strictly party-to-party so that the MDC would not be seen to be dealing with the government. "The fact is, the talks are significant," he said.

ZANU-PF’s Emerson Manangagwa told IRIN his party was waiting to hear from the facilitators and would not divulge the party’s position on the talks. "We cannot do it through the media," he said.

The MDC's secretary for economic affairs, Eddie Cross, said his party would be seeking fresh elections, a demand Mugabe has already rejected. The MDC has also said it would not consider a coalition government - sentiments echoed by civil society organisations.

International reaction to the poll was split, with Africa widely accepting the result and Europe and the US rejecting it.

In March a Commonwealth troika of the presidents of Nigeria, South Africa and Australia recommended Zimbabwe’s suspension from the body. Shortly before the suspension South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo met Zimbabwe’s political leadership and urged them to work together.