MAPUTO, Mozambique, June 18- An emergency summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held in Maputo on Saturday, rejected plans by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (photo) to hold elections on July 31.
The SADC heads of state and government advised the Zimbabwean government to request the country’s Constitutional Court to allow more time for general elections to be held, Mozambican news agency, AIM, reported.
Announcing this at a press conference at the end of the summit, SADC Executive Secretary Tomas Salomao said that, while SADC recognises the court decision that made July 31 the electoral deadline, it believed that the government needs more time to organise the elections.
Salomao claimed that all the Zimbabwean political forces now accept the need to postpone the elections, so that they can be held in a peaceful environment, and so that they can be free, transparent and credible.
The summit made a series of recommendations that the Zimbabwean government should take into account – these include reform of the state-owned media (generally regarded as a mouthpiece for Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party), systematic observation of the law, and the way in which SADC election observers should be deployed. All this would be in order to ensure free and fair elections.
Zimbabwean civil society organisations were in Maputo during the summit to press upon SADC leaders the need to postpone the elections. Mcdonald Lewanika, leader of the Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition stressed that the current political climate makes it impossible to hold free elections on 31 July.
Among the factors inhibiting the enjoyment of individual freedoms, he said, was the fact that the media cannot report freely on what is happening on the ground.
A further problem hindering the holding of elections is that, according to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, the Zimbabwean treasury simply does not have the money to organise them. One question under consideration is the possibility of SADC helping to fund the elections – but, according to Salomao, the matter was not discussed at the summit.
As for the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Salomao said the summit was informed about the current situation, and encouraged the continued commitment of all stakeholders in seeking for solutions conducive to peace and stability.
The meeting congratulated Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for his role in facilitating peace negotiations between the Congolese government and the M23 rebel movement – but also urged Rwanda and Uganda (often accused of backing the M23) of “considering the involvement of all forces in seeking solution to achieve peace in the Great Lakes region”.
As fo Madagascar, suspended from both SADC and the African Union since the coup of 2009, the summit thanked former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, for his mediation in attempts to bring Madagascar back to constitutional rule.
The summit warned that SADC will not recognise any election as long as candidates regarded as ineligible are on the ballot paper. It also appealed to the international community not to recognise the result of any such election.
The SADC leaders reiterated their position that neither Marc Ravalomanana, the president deposed in 2009, nor the man who overthrew him, Andry Rajoelina, should be candidates. They “should be persuaded not to run in the forthcoming general elections as a measure seeking to solve the current crisis”, said the summit.
– BERNAMA
