Zimbabwe's rival parties have moved closer to a deal to allow fully-fledged talks on the country's crisis, state media said Sunday, after sanctions against Robert Mugabe's regime were vetoed at the UN.
Following vetoes by China and Russia on the targeted measures at the UN Security Council, Zimbabwean state media reported negotiators from the opposition and ruling parties had tentatively agreed on terms for detailed talks. "The working framework that has been agreed to so far removes the sticking points between the negotiating parties and paves way for serious talks," the Sunday Mail newspaper said, citing what it called highly placed sources.
The ruling ZANU-PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are to draft a memorandum of engagement, which will be subject to approval by the parties' leaders, according to the government mouthpiece. It will set out terms for talks following Mugabe's widely condemned one-man election, including the timeframe, the composition of the negotiating teams and the agenda for discussions, according to the paper.
A South African newspaper reported that Zimbabwe's rival parties were set to meet again on Wednesday in Harare and were expected to sign a deal that would lay the groundwork for further discussions. The agreement would likely set out guidelines for negotiations that would occur over a 14-day period, according to The Sunday Independent.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa would not comment directly on the reports, but said continued attacks against party supporters were undermining attempts at finding a resolution, "in particular the cases of violence against our MPs, our officials and staff."
"Beating is not talking, fighting is not talking," he said. "Let the war against the people stop, then we will start looking at the problems facing the country from the same position." The party said Friday a total of 113 supporters had now been killed in politically related violence, with a polling agent, Gift Mutsvungunu, among the most recent victims.
MDC officials have insisted substantive negotiations could only take place if the violence is halted and over 1,500 "political prisoners" are released. They have also called for an expanded mediation team including an African Union permanent envoy and the swearing in of lawmakers as the opposition now controls parliament.
The newspaper reports follow meetings between both parties last week in South Africa, whose President Thabo Mbeki has been seeking a negotiated solution to Zimbabwe's crisis. Opponents of further "targeted" sanctions, including South Africa, have argued that the Mbeki-mediated talks need to be supported and not scuppered by such measures.
Mbeki, however, has faced heavy criticism over his quiet diplomacy approach and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had previously called for him to be stripped of his mediator role. Mugabe's government has praised Mbeki, and on Saturday Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described him as a "leader par excellence" who had not yielded to "to the machinations of the West led by Britain and United States."
The 84-year-old leader's regime also rejoiced in the failure of the new US-drafted sanctions at the UN that would have imposed an assets freeze and a travel ban on Mugabe and 13 of his associates, as well as an arms embargo.
Zimbabwe's political crisis intensified when Mugabe defied international and regional criticism and pushed ahead with the one-man run-off election on June 27 that handed him a sixth term as president. MDC leader Tsvangirai pulled out of the vote five days ahead of the poll, citing rising violence against his supporters that left dozens dead and thousands injured.
Tsvangirai finished ahead of Mugabe in the March 29 first round of the election, but with an official vote total just short of an outright majority. Once seen as a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe now faces the world's highest inflation rate and major food shortages.
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