MDC ready to discuss dialogue with Mugabe

There should be no preconditions for talks with Zimbabwe's ruling party, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said. The MDC holds its annual conference this weekend, and key issues such as how the party responds to Zimbabwe's political, economic and humanitarian crises are set to top the agenda. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube told IRIN that "the question of inter-party dialogue will obviously be discussed at the conference". However, he noted that several attempts to get talks going had failed. "We conducted two mass actions in March and June this year, with the view to bringing [President Robert] Mugabe to the negotiating table. The national council report [to be presented at the conference] addresses this issue, dwelling a lot on what has happened in the inter-party dialogue process, [and] narrating how the churches and other stakeholders like South African President Thabo Mbeki have so far failed to bring Mugabe to the negotiating table," Ncube said. He added that the setting of preconditions for talks would "doom the dialogue" from the outset. "Even though we are the ones who are at the receiving end [of political intimidation] ... we will not put any preconditions [on talks]. Let every issue be put on the table. We might have different ways of crafting a road map of governance, human rights and democracy but we should sit down and identify our problems first. We are prepared for dialogue unconditionally, any time, anywhere," Ncube said. Mbeki visited Zimbabwe this week and held talks with both Mugabe and leaders of the MDC. Mbeki reportedly met opposition leaders for 45 minutes on Thursday, after spending 3 hours in talks with Mugabe, and assured them that he had a commitment from Mugabe "to be serious about dialogue", South Africa's Independent Newspapers reported. FUTURE CHALLENGES Ncube told IRIN that party president Morgan Tsvangirai, currently facing treason charges, would deliver the keynote address at the weekend conference. Tsvangirai would focus on "outlining not just the challenges we have faced in the past, but the challenges we are likely to face in the future... particularly, considering that whatever happens, we face the parliamentary election in about a year". Following the MDC's defeat in the Kadoma by-election - an urban seat - at the end of November, some analysts question the party's political strategy. But Ncube said "the most important item" on the conference agenda would be the policies of the party. "We need to have clear, well developed policies which will enable the MDC, when it comes to power, to reverse the economic decline and actually ensure that, as quickly as possible, we begin to deliver a better life to the people of Zimbabwe. Hence, there will be debate on the party's economic policies," he said. There would also be debate on the party's agricultural policy, "with particular reference to what needs to be done". "As you know our agricultural and land policy was developed at a time when we were saying the MDC would acquire 5 million hectares of land and resettle people in this way, but things have changed. There is a new situation on the ground which comes with different challenges," Ncube said. He was referring to the government's fast-track land reform programme. "You have a situation whereby the Mugabe regime has already acquired some 11 million hectares of land, which is a fait accompli. But in the process of acquiring that land, agriculture is now virtually on its knees. We need to find out how we can come up with policies which can ensure that we once again produce food sufficient to feed ourselves and to export in order to earn money from our neighbours and elsewhere in the world," Ncube said. He added that debate around the party's new land policy was likely to be "spirited".