EU "consultations" over governance concerns

Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) begin "consultations" in Brussels on Friday over the deteriorating political and human rights situation in the country.

Zimbabwe has been summoned under the terms of the Cotonou agreement - which links the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of countries to the EU - to respond to the EU's concerns over the state of the rule of law, and respect for democratic principals.

The consultations last 60 days, during which Zimbabwe would be expected to deliver a "solution acceptable to both parties". Failure to do so would lead to "appropriate measures being taken", which has widely been interpreted as sanctions.

"The clock starts on Friday," a British foreign ministry spokesperson told IRIN, in reference to the 60 day period.

Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's Minister of State for Information in the Office of the President, reportedly said on Wednesday that the international community, particularly the EU and the Commonwealth, should hold Britain responsible for any escalation of violence ahead of presidential elections on 9-10 March.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told parliament on Tuesday that "if the situation in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate, Britain will argue for Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in March".

He said the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), meeting on 30 January, would consider whether President Robert Mugabe's actions were a "serious and persistent violation" of the Commonwealth's principles, press reports said.

The eight-nation CMAG, the 54-member Commonwealth's democracy watchdog, last month put Zimbabwe on its agenda for action - the first step on a road to suspension.

But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in response to Straw's comments that Britain would never succeed in suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, because aside from Canada and Australia, "the rest of the Commonwealth has rallied behind us".

In Zimbabwe's deepening political crisis, the ruling ZANU-PF party suspended parliamentary standing orders this week to steamroll a set of controversial bills through the house by Friday, news reports said. A fourth and controversial electoral amendment act was surprisingly defeated by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday, and can only come back in the next session of parliament.

The bills are designed to boost Mugabe's re-election chances, news reports said. A public order bill [for full details: http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/demgg/011214posb.asp?sector=DEMGG], electoral, information, and labour bills give Mugabe sweeping powers and severely curtail the opposition.

The bills sought to "criminalise the opposition", and silence the privately-owned media, and make it illegal for union officials to organise strikes and stayaways, analysts told IRIN.
As well as disenfranchising Zimbabwean voters abroad, the electoral bill aims to ban independent election monitors and allow only a government-appointed commission to conduct voter education. Both the electoral and security bills were passed by parliament on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's military and security chiefs warned that they would only serve political leaders that shared ZANU-PFs liberation war credentials.

"We wish to make it very clear to all Zimbabwean citizens that the security organisations will only stand in support of those political leaders that will pursue Zimbabwean values, traditions and beliefs for thousands of lives lost in pursuit of Zimbabwe's hard-won independence," Zimbabwe defence forces commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe said in a statement.

"We would therefore not accept, let alone support or salute anyone with a different agenda that threatens the very existence of our sovereignty, our country and our people," Zvinavashe said. Mugabe has repeatedly branded opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai a traitor linked to pre-independence Rhodesian interests.