Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Harare (Agenzia Fides) – Is the political climate in Zimbabwe changing? This is what international analysts and the country’s population are all asking after it was announced that on July 21, an accord would be signed between the government of President Robert Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition party, that should set the stage for direct negotiation talks between the two parties and, perhaps, lead to the establishment of a government of national unity.
It is an accord that was supposed to be signed last week (see Fides 14/7/2008), but that the opposition party refused to sign, awaiting a government commitment to cease violence and to free political figures under arrest, the extension of the agreement to other political formations and the inclusion of another mediator in the negotiation talks, appointed by the African Union, to accompany South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was appointed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate the crisis.
Mbeki left for the Zimbabwean capital of Harare to witness the signing.
The crisis in the country has worsened since June 27, when President Mugabe was reelected for a second term, a “farce” according to the opposition and a large portion of the international community, after which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out of elections, denouncing the violence against his supporters. This same Tsvangirai will be signing the agreement with the government. The distribution of power between the majority and the opposition has been determined by many as the only means of avoiding a bloodbath in a country that is starving and impoverished from the terrible economic policies of recent years. The recent example of Kenya, with the establishment of a government of national unity and the distribution of powers between President Mwai Kibaki and his adversary in the controversial elections, Raila Odinga (who became Prime Minister), has set an important precedent. The crisis that Zimbabwe is now facing goes farther back than that of Kenya, and the country is distraught. Inflation continues setting record highs. For example, a bill of 100 billion Zimbabwean dollars is barely enough to pay for 4 oranges. The United Nations has issued an alarm on the fact that, due to a bad harvest (a result of faulty agricultural reforms on the part of the government), 5 million Zimbabweans are at risk of starvation in the coming months, if no intervention is made sooner. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 21/7/2008)
