By Awaal Gata, with agency
The impasse that has been going on in Zimbabwe since Tuesday continued yesterday. There has not been any official response from the government to events. But the day started with reports that President Robert Mugabe was holding meetings with negotiators from South Africa over his future. However, the embattled president refused to budge, insisting that he was the legitimate leader of the country and his tenure should be allowed to elapse before any talk of regime change, sources reportedly told AFP.
“They met today. He is refusing to step down. I think he is trying to buy time,” said the source, who declined to be named.
Zimbabwe’s opposition party leader Morgan Tsvangirai said it was in the interest of the country’s citizens if Mugabe resigned immediately.
The leader of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) was speaking at his residence in Harare on Thursday, following a press briefing earlier in the day by former vice president and presidential hopeful Joice Mujuru.
Tsvangirai said the country was “going through extraordinary circumstances” and said it was time for leaders and citizens to reflect on what had been taking place.
“The destination point to the resolution of this crisis… is through credible, free and fair elections,” he said.
“Over the last five years… our people have endured a lot of suffering.”
“In the formation of the MDC… To me it was never personal. It was never a personal issue. I disagreed in the manner he managed elections. I disagreed in the manner he conducted government business,”
The head of the African Union (AU) said on Thursday that the body “will never accept the military coup d’etat” in the country.
“We demand respect for the constitution, a return to the constitutional order and we will never accept the military coup d’etat,” Alpha Conde said in an interview with French journalists in Paris.
“We know there are internal problems. They need to be resolved politically by the Zanu-PF party and not with an intervention by the army,” added Conde, who is also Guinea’s president.
Zimbabwe’s civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for a “clear and implementable road map”, as the country’s political deadlock after a military takeover on Wednesday continued.
In a joint statement, the CSOs called for a “peaceful and constitutional resolution of the situation and the immediate return of Constitutional order and democracy”
The more than 100 groups said that the southern African country’s transition should be guided by the constitution and include all political parties and interest groups.
“As civil society we reiterate our position that the political transition in Zimbabwe must be guided by the Constitution and should adhere to all full tenets of democracy enshrined in it that include a multi-party democratic political system. We condemn any actions, attempts and interests to attain state power outside constitutional provisions,” said the groups.
Zimbabweans have been posting on Facebook and Twitter that there has been no dramatic effect on normal life.
People say that shops have opened as normal but there are few people on the streets of the capital.
One resident of Harare though told the Press Association: “I don’t think I see how anything could possibly be different. If we wanted to see any change we would have to assassinate about 5,000 people all feeding from the same trough.”
President Mugabe has been in control of Zimbabwe since it threw off white minority rule in 1980.
However, the power struggle over who might succeed him, between his wife Grace Mugabe and her rival former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has split the ruling Zanu-PF party in recent months.
Last week, Mr Mugabe came down in favour of his wife, sacking Mr Mnangagwa, a veteran of Zimbabwe’s anti-colonial struggle.
That proved too much for military leaders, who seized control of the country on Wednesday.
Russia warns US media of ‘foreign agents’ designation
Russia has warned US-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that they could be forced to register as “foreign agents”.
The Justice Ministry has notified nine foreign media outlets that could be affected by a new law passed by Russia’s lower house of parliament.
The bill is in retaliation for Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT being told to register as a foreign agent in the US.
