THE Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) has urged Zimbabwe’s political leaders to speed up the completion of the stalled constitution-making process and to implement in full the Global Political Agreement, to enable the country to hold credible elections. Report by Feluna Nleya Staff Reporter
In a communiqué made available to NewsDay yesterday following last week’s summit of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation held in Tanzania, the regional body pressed parties in the inclusive government to conclude the drafting of a new governance charter to create conducive conditions for holding acceptable elections.
“The summit urged the political stakeholders in Zimbabwe to expedite the finalisation of the constitutional-making process on the outstanding issues in order to pave the way for peaceful, credible, free and fair elections in the country,” reads the communiqué.
The two-day Sadc Troika Summit was chaired by Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete and was attended by Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, South African President Jacob Zuma — also the Sadc facilitator for Zimbabwe — and the regional bloc’s executive secretary Tomaz Salomão. Zanu PF and the two MDCs in the inclusive government are failing to agree on some provisions in the new draft constitution which should be subjected to a referendum before the holding of elections.
Sadc leaders urged Zuma to continue engaging with the political party leaders for them to fully implement the power sharing agreement signed in 2008 and end the country’s political and economic crises.
Apart from Zimbabwe, the regional leaders considered the political and security situation in the region, in particular the latest developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar.
