Zimbabwe's main political parties fail to reach agreement on security reforms

Zimbabwe's three main political parties have failed to reach an agreement on the electoral roadmap and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) might be forced to intervene and whip the warring rivals into line.

President Robert Mugabe's party and the two MDC formations were mandated by SADC at the summit in Johannesburg last month to complete an electoral roadmap.

But the parties announced last week that they remained deadlocked on security sector reforms, composition of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the issue of deployment of soldiers throughout the country, the role of the secret service in government, amendments to the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the issue of deploying international monitors six months before and after elections.

The deadlock means there cannot be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, and this has alarmed SADC.

A Zambian diplomat, who spoke to the Sunday Times on Friday, said the next SADC summit in Angola next month was likely to come down harder on Mugabe, who the region now blames for the slow pace of reform.

"We have been observing developments in the country since the Sandton Summit, and it looks like people in Zanu-PF are not interested in implementing what the region has proposed to ensure peace returns to Zimbabwe at the completion of free and fair polls. As we have repeatedly said, the crisis in Zimbabwe will end up spilling over to other countries if we do not stop the nonsense.

"It is in Zimbabwe and only in Zimbabwe where you hear an army general interfering in civilian politics, threatening a would-be contender for the presidency. It's ridiculous that we still have disagreements over issues that can easily be resolved.

"It is clear that there is a clique within the Zimbabwe structures which is opposed to the SADC recommendations and the trend is worrying. The only hope for the people of Zimbabwe is that SADC diplomats are in the loop about the goings-on in this country and they will brief their presidents appropriately before the August summit. The Zimbabwean issue must be resolved once and for all," said the diplomat.

Last week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai admitted that all was not well in government due to sharp divisions over policy issues. The prime minister and Mugabe also clashed last week over civil servants' salary increases and media reforms.