Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe
The SADC summit of 26-27 January came up with some hard deadlines for the inauguration of the (Deputy) Prime Ministers and (Deputy) Ministers of the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe: 11 and 13 February 2009. SADC herewith re-affirmed its commitment to finding a lasting solution to the implementation of the Zimbabwe Global Political Agreement.
The
ongoing political deadlock has exacerbated the problems facing
Zimbabweans, from a cholera epidemic, in which 2,200 people died, and
an economic meltdown to food shortages – half of the population need
food aid, to the collapse of basic services such as health and
education. Next to this, many Zimbabweans have become victims of
violence, abductions, torture and killings. Large manufacturers may
stay closed indefinitely whilst others extend their Christmas
shutdown. Wages and salaries paid cannot be spent by employees to
provide for their households. The Zimbabwean government recently
legalized the use of foreign currencies like dollars and euros,
admitting that it could not cope with the staggering inflation of the
Zimbabwean dollar.
South-African
President Kgalema Motlanthe led a SADC delegation to Zimbabwe earlier
this month where discussions were held with leaders of the country’s
political parties involved in the Inter-Party Dialogue on 19 January.
On this occasion the political leaders unfortunately failed to form a
unity government. The bottleneck was the equitable allocation of
ministerial portfolios, in particular the Ministry of Home Affairs,
overseeing the national security forces. Negotiations will continue and
seem to be the only option for the peaceful transition of power that is
necessary to open up the road for the recovery of the people of
Zimbabwe.
The EPD supports activities for the victims of political
violence in Zimbabwe and looks for further possibilities to enlarge the
democratic space in the country. For more information please contact
mariekevandoorn@epd.eu