Heads of state of the Southern African sub-region will meet with Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugae on Saturday in Lusaka, Zambia to discuss the electoral crisis that has hit Zimbabwe after the 29th March general elections.
by Hanan Ben Rhouma
Southern African Development Community (SADC), chaired by Zambian President, Levy Mwanawasa, will meet on Saturday in Lusaka for a special summit on the Zimbabwean post electoral quagmire. According to sources close to the Zambian President, all fourteen members of the community have been invited to participate in the conference.
Neighbouring countries fearing an outbreak of violence have started mobilising themselves to find a quick solution to the crisis. Zimbabwe is still awaiting results two weeks after the presidential elections.
Robert Mugabe says he is ready to dialogue with his regional counterparts. The spokesperson for the Zimbabwean government, Bright Matonga, confirmed Robert Mugabe’s eagerness to attend the summit.
In a statement made by the general secretary of the opposition MDC party, their presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, will also be present at the Lusaka summit.
Tensions rising
Morgan Tsvangirai has accused Robert Mugabe, in power since the country’s independence in 1980, of preparing a military coup d’etat to stay in power. In an interview with Time Magazine, Tsvangirai said that Mugabe will be dethroned. He also said the Mugabe who has been left to his own devices in the region and has therefore become untouchable will be ousted.
Morgan Tsvangirai who is on a regional tour has called the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release the results of the presidential elections with immediate effect. However, the country’s court has ruled to analyse his request next Monday.
Although the results have been postponed on several occasions, the discredited ZEC is claiming more time to count the results of the elections that took place some two weeks ago.
The opposition announced it had won the presidential elections on April 2nd after official results revealed it had won the elections for the lower house against ZANU-PF ruling out any possiblity of a presidential run-off as Robert Mugabe has suggested.
