South African peace plan for Zimbabwe given qualified welcome by opposition MDC
South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, has presented a plan to Zimbabwe's political leaders that would allow Robert Mugabe to remain as a titular head of state but surrender real power to the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who would serve as prime minister until a new constitution was negotiated and fresh elections held.
A senior opposition Movement for Democratic Change source, who has read the document, told the Guardian that Mbeki had sent the plan to Mugabe and Tsvangirai and that it was generally welcomed by the MDC.
The opposition believes the proposal appears to represent a recognition by Mbeki - whom Tsvangirai had previously accused of "colluding with Mugabe to play down the deepening political crisis" - that the Zimbabwean president's power is crumbling. But the MDC remains suspicious of Mbeki and is demanding that the African Union be a party to any deal to ensure it is adhered to.
The proposal nonetheless adds to growing international pressure on Mugabe, who has said that while he is prepared to talk to the opposition, it must first recognise that he is the legitimately elected president and will remain so.
Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said he could neither confirm nor deny that such a document exists.
Nigeria is the latest African government to condemn last month's presidential election, in which Mugabe claimed 90% of the valid votes after a military-led campaign of violence against the opposition.
Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised countries are expected to consider taking "measures" against Zimbabwe, according to the host of this week's summit, the Japanese prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda. A US official said Washington expected the G8 to "strongly question the legitimacy of [Mugabe's] government".
The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, speaking after meeting Zimbabwean refugees in Johannesburg yesterday, said the crisis in their country was "infecting the whole of southern Africa".
"No one who meets the people here could do anything other than redouble their efforts to secure international consensus that the Mugabe regime is not a legitimate representation of the will of the people of Zimbabwe," he said. He called for international backing for a US proposal at the UN security council for sanctions against Zimbabwe's leaders.
The MDC source said the party leadership found itself in surprising agreement with much of what Mbeki was proposing, describing it as an important shift from what the opposition described as his previous positions aimed at propping up Mugabe.
The source said "all the basic ideas of the MDC are there", including a recognition of the results of the first round of elections in March won by Tsvangirai. That would be met by making the MDC leader an executive prime minister.
"The important thing is that it recognises the outcome of the March 29 election, and that any government will be transitional on the way to new elections," the source said.
He said the opposition recognised it would have to make concessions, and that allowing Mugabe to remain as a titular president was acceptable if it laid the ground for a new constitution and a fresh vote. But there are important areas of difference with Mbeki, particularly an MDC demand for an African Union mediator to work with the South African leader, and for the AU to act as a guarantor of any agreement. There have yet to be formal negotiations on the proposal.
Mbeki flew to Harare on Saturday for a meeting requested by Tsvangirai. But the MDC leader pulled out when, according to the opposition, he was called at short notice by the South Africans to a meeting with Mbeki and Mugabe at the presidential offices in Harare.
Tsvangirai was concerned that going to the state house would be seen as conferring recognition on Mugabe as the legitimately elected president. The MDC also feared that such a meeting would be used by Mbeki to persuade AU and G8 leaders that he was on top of the crisis and there was no need for further international pressure or intervention.
