Categories: Stories

Daily News says Commonwealth should send clear message to Mugabe

The Daily News said the Commonwealth which was meeting to decide the fate of Zimbabwe should send a loud and clear message to President Robert Mugabe that it did not condone his behaviour in the just ended presidential elections.

Mugabe had won the elections with an overwhelming majority but the Movement for Democratic Change complained that the vote had been rigged.

“The commonwealth. .must send a loud and clear message to President Mugabe. They cannot afford to be equivocal without risking long-term damage to their reputation for sticking to their own rules,” the paper said.

 

Full cable:


Viewing cable 02HARARE712, MEDIA REACTION COMMONWEALTH TROIKA; HARARE

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Reference ID

Created

Released

Classification

Origin

02HARARE712

2002-03-19 10:34

2011-08-30 01:44

UNCLASSIFIED

Embassy Harare

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

 

191034Z Mar 02

 

 

 

UNCLASSIFIED     PTQ4611

 

PAGE 01       HARARE 00712 191048Z

ACTION INR-00

 

INFO LOG-00   NP-00   AF-00   A-00     ACQ-00   CIAE-00 DODE-00

DS-00   EUR-00   UTED-00 VC-00   TEDE-00 LAB-01   VCE-00

NSAE-00 IRM-00   TEST-00 USIE-00 IIP-00   DSCC-00 DRL-02

NFAT-00 SAS-00     /003W

——————773F05 191049Z /38

FM AMEMBASSY HARARE

TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1246

INFO NSC WASHDC

AMEMBASSY PRETORIA

AMEMBASSY LUSAKA

AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK

AMEMBASSY GABORONE

AMEMBASSY LILONGWE

AMEMBASSY LONDON

UNCLAS HARARE 000712

 

SIPDIS

 

AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND

SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR SWANN, INR/R/MR, NSC FOR JENDAYI

FRAZER

 

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: ZI PREL PHUM

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION COMMONWEALTH TROIKA; HARARE

 

 

1.   THE INDEPENDENT DAILY “THE DAILY NEWS” DEDICATED

UNCLASSIFIED

 

PAGE 02       HARARE 00712 191048Z

ITS MARCH 19 EDITORIAL TO THE COMMONWEALTH

DELIBERATIONS OVER ZIMBABWE. THE GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED

DAILY “THE HERALD” USED ITS EDITORIAL TO DISCOURAGING

ZIMBABWEANS FROM EMBARKING ON A THREE-DAY WORK

STOPPAGE. EXCERPTS:

 

2.   UNDER HEADLINE “COMMONWEALTH MUST BE FIRM ON

DEMOCRACY,” THE “DAILY NEWS” (03/18) COMMENTS:

 

“. . .TODAY, THE COMMONWEALTH, ON THE BASIS OF A

REPORT BY TWO AFRICAN PRESIDENTS AND THE PRIME

MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA, MUST DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH

ZIMBABWE’S FUTURE MEMBERSHIP. THEY HAVE A REPORT

OF THE COMMONWEALTH OBSERVER GROUP TO THE

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AS THE BASIS OF THEIR

RECOMMENDATION TO THE HEADS OF GOVERNMENT. THAT

REPORT WAS CATEGORICAL IN ITS CRITICISM – SOME

MIGHT SAY CONDEMNATION – OF THE CONDUCT OF THE

ELECTION. . . THE COMMONWEALTH. . .MUST SEND A

LOUD AND CLEAR MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT MUGABE. . .

THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE EQUIVOCAL WITHOUT RISKING

LONG-TERM DAMAGE TO THEIR REPUTATION FOR STICKING

TO THEIR OWN RULES. . . .”

 

3.   UNDER HEADLINE “STAYAWAY CALL EXTREMELY

IRRESPONSIBLE,” THE “HERALD” (03/18) COMMENTS:

 

“THE CALL FOR A THREE-DAY NATIONAL STRIKE BEGINNING

TOMORROW BY THE ZCTU, AN AFFILIATE OF THE MDC, IS

AN EXTREMELY IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENT THAT FLIES IN

THE FACE OF EFFORTS TO REBUILD THE COUNTRY. IN ITS

UNCLASSIFIED

 

PAGE 03       HARARE 00712 191048Z

OVERZEALOUS CAMPAIGN TO PLEASE ITS DEFEATED

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MR. MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, THE

CLUELESS LABOR MOVEMENT SHOWS TOTAL DISREGARD FOR

THE DEVASTATING EFFECT THE STAYAWAY WILL HAVE ON

THE ALREADY FRAGILE ECONOMY IN THE WAKE OF A HIGHLY

POLARIZED PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. . .   THE STAYAWAY

WILL BE THE FINAL INDICATOR ON WHETHER THE MOSTLY

WHITE EMPLOYERS AND INDUSTRIALISTS ARE GOING TO

SPURN THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP EXTENDED BY PRESIDENT

MUGABE. . . IF COMPANIES WANT TO SHUT DOWN THEIR

OPERATIONS, SO BE IT. BUT LET IT BE KNOWN THAT

THEY WILL HAVE LOST ANY GOODWILL THAT THE

GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO EXTEND TO THEM. THEY WILL

EITHER BECOME TOTALLY IRRELEVANT IN THE NEW

ZIMBABWE AND SHOULD BE SIDELINED COMPLETELY IN THE

GENERAL SCHEME OF THINGS. . . AT A TIME WHEN

NEGOTIATIONS ARE BEING HELD TO BRIDGE THE RIFT

BETWEEN THE RULING ZANU PF AND OPPOSITION MDC, THE

ZCTU STRIKE IS ILL ADVISED, PREMATURE, ILL-

CONCEIVED AND DESERVES NO SERIOUS ATTENTION. WE DO

NOT BELIEVE THAT THE MDC, WHICH HAS AGREED TO

ENGAGE ZANU PF IS TALKS, WOULD BE SO PETTY AND

NEGOTIATE IN SUCH BAD FAITH. THE OPPOSITION PARTY

SHOULD REIN IN ITS DOGS TO GIVE DIALOGUE A CHANCE.”

 

SULLIVAN

 

UNCLASSIFIED

 

>

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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