There was a lot of excitement when legislators from the Movement for Democratic Change attended President Robert Mugabe’s speech to Parliament on 22 July 2003 but United States embassy officials questioned the sincerity of ZANU-PF.
“It is too early to tell with what sincerity ZANU-PF is approaching the putative reconciliation with MDC. As a minimum, ZANU-PF wished to secure MDC’s attendance in parliament to provide the show of honour which means so much to Mugabe,” the embassy said in a cable released by Wikileaks.
“The Mugabe government also wished to alleviate some of the pressure it was under from South Africa and others to enter into dialogue with the MDC. ZANU would also like MDC to share the responsibility for the economic hardships the populace is facing and, ideally, to use their international ties to relieve the pressure on Zimbabwe.
“At this point, we are dubious that ZANU intends to give the MDC a genuine share of power or to enter into the sort of dialogue which addresses the serious issues of Mugabe’s legitimacy and seeks a consensus formula for addressing the issue,” embassy officials said..
“Even the usually acid-tongued ZANU-PF International Secretary Didymus Mutasa said that it would be important for the two parties to work together to find an economic way forward,” the cable added..
Full cable:
Viewing cable 03HARARE1507, HOW MUCH GIVE IN ZANU-PF OPENNESS TO DIALOGUE
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
250934Z Jul 03
C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001507
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO AND AF/S
NSC FOR SR AFRICA ADVISER JENDAYII FRAZER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2008
SUBJECT: HOW MUCH GIVE IN ZANU-PF OPENNESS TO DIALOGUE
REF: A. (A) HARARE 1475
¶B. (B) HARARE 1491
¶C. (C) HARARE 1506
Classified By: JOSEPH G. SULLIVAN FOR REASON 1.5D
1.(C) Most Zimbabweans appear to have welcomed the signs of
openness to dialogue reflected in the MDC’s attendance at
President Mugabe’s July 22 speech to parliament (ref A). MDC
spokesmen have remained on message about their hopes that the
gesture would open the way for serious dialogue between the
parties to address the national crisis, despite the July 22
arrest (for several hours) of MDC spokesman Paul Themba-Nyati
over an MDC caricature of President Mugabe and despite
impediments posed to registration of some MDC local
government candidates(ref B). President Mugabe’s speech to
the Parliament(ref C) was relatively restrained, but highly
unrealistic. Then at a later luncheon speech that day to some
parliamentarians and others, Mugabe was somewhat more
explicit about his pleasure that MDC had attended the
parliamentary session and his hope that ZANU-PF and MDC would
work together in parliament.
2.(U) The state media net also went into overdrive, lauding
the signs of national reconciliation. Even the usually
acid-tongued ZANU-PF International Secretary Didymus Mutasa
said that it would be important for the two parties to work
together to find an economic way forward. He did not object
to the MDC maintaining its lawsuit against the conduct of the
2002 presidential election, but he called for the MDC to
secure “from its handlers” the removal of economic sanctions
against Zimbabwe” and rejected the MDC’s statement that they
would seek an honorable exit for President Mugabe. State
media on July 24 picked up the theme that the MDC must
demonstrate its patriotism by securing an end to sanctions
against Zimbabwe, while Information Minister Jonathan Moyo
diverted from the mostly conciliatory tone by labeling the
MDC a “hitherto treasonous party” which must stop “sabotaging
the economy” and claiming that the public is “tired of MDC
lies and hallucinations.”
3.(C) Comment: It is too early to tell with what sincerity
ZANU-PF is approaching the putative reconciliation with MDC.
As a minimum, ZANU-PF wished to secure MDC’s attendance in
parliament to provide the show of honor which means so much
to Mugabe. The Mugabe Government also wished to alleviate
some of the pressure it was under from South Africa and
others to enter into dialogue with the MDC. ZANU would also
like MDC to share the responsibility for the economic
hardships the populace is facing and, ideally, to use their
international ties to relieve the pressure on Zimbabwe. At
this point, we are dubious that ZANU intends to give the MDC
a genuine share of power or to enter into the sort of
dialogue which addresses the serious issues of Mugabe’s
legitimacy and seeks a consensus formula for addressing the
issue. This tentative judgment could change depending on the
amount of external pressure Mugabe comes under, particularly
from President Mbeki who has been lionized of late in the
state media for his advocacy of “African solutions to African
problems” and alleged resistance to American and British
impositions. The rapidly unraveling economic situation will
also put additional pressures on the GOZ, next when
Zimbabweans are unable to access the salary deposits made in
their bank accounts at the end of the month. (Bankers told
us yesterday told us they feared that riots could break out
when the currency shortage hits even harder with the
increased and unmeetable demand for cash from account holders
after end-month salary deposits.)
SULLIVAN
(26 VIEWS)
