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04-01-2008, 12:16 PM
April 2, 2008
Negotiations May Lead to Mugabe’s Exit in Zimbabwe
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
HARARE, Zimbabwe (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/zimbabwe/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) — The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/morgan_tsvangirai/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is in talks with advisers to President Robert G. Mugabe (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/robert_mugabe/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Zimbabwe, amid signs that some of those close to Mr. Mugabe may encourage him to resign, a Western diplomatic source and a prominent Zimbabwe political analyst said Tuesday. The negotiations about a possible transfer of power away from Mr. Mugabe began after he apparently concluded that a runoff election would be demeaning, a diplomat said.
A resignation by Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, would be a stunning turnabout in a country where he has been accused of consistently manipulating election results to maintain his lock on power.
There is no guarantee the negotiations will succeed, and the situation could still deteriorate. But a Western diplomat and a political analyst said the opposition was negotiating with Zimbabwe’s military, central intelligence organization and prisons chief.
“The chiefs of staff are talking to Morgan and are trying to put into place transitional structures,” said John Makumbe, a political analyst and insider in local politics who has spoken in the past in favor of the opposition.
“The chiefs of staff are not split; they are loyally at Mugabe’s side,” Mr. Makumbe said. “But they are not negotiating for Mr. Mugabe. They are negotiating for themselves. They are negotiating about reprisals and recriminations and blah blah blah. They are doing it for their own security.”
A spokesman for Mr. Tsvangirai, George Sibotshiwe, said, “I don’t know anything about such meetings.”
The diplomat said the joint chiefs had entered the negotiations after receiving feelers from Mr. Tsvangirai. The Western diplomat then said the leaders of the armed forces advised Mr. Mugabe on Monday to engineer a second-round runoff in the presidential race, but Mr. Mugabe responded that a runoff would be a humiliation to him.
source (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/world/africa/02zimbabwe.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)
AP: Mugabe's aides discuss ceding power
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Advisers of Zimbabwe's president and main opposition leader are discussing Robert Mugabe relinquishing power, the Associated Press learned Tuesday from a businessman close to the state electoral commission and a lawyer close to the opposition.
The businessman said Mugabe has been told he is far behind Tsvangirai in preliminary results from Saturday's presidential elections and that there could be an uprising if Mugabe were declared the winner. Both sources spoke on condition they were not identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Several diplomats said they had heard similar reports but could not corroborate the information. Asked about the report in a telephone call, Tendai Biti, secretary-general of Tsvangirai's party, said, "It's rubbish," and hung up.
Zimbabwe's security chiefs have told the Electoral Commission to issue results portraying a close race, to prevent celebrations that could ignite violence with rival party militants, the businessman said.
Political analyst John Makumbe said he had learned from military sources that they would honor the results of the elections. That would indicate a change of heart since the security chiefs the day before the elections warned they would not serve anybody but Mugabe and would not tolerate an opposition victory.
Tsvangirai on Tuesday postponed his first public statement since the elections until later in the day. His spokesman George Shibotshiwe said that was because the opposition party had received "a tremendous breakthrough in the numbers coming in" from Saturday's voting.
The opposition already has claimed victory in the elections that hinged on the destruction of the economy with people suffering to survive inflation soaring beyond 100,000%.
Tsvangirai has vowed not to entertain an alliance with Mugabe but has said previously that he is ready to negotiate an exit package for Zimbabwe's ruler for 28 years. He also has said that Mugabe should be tried for human rights abuses, possibly in an international court.
It appeared Mugabe was persuaded into talks by the possibility of a runoff presidential race, which the businessman said he would find too demeaning.
In a statement late Monday, the independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network said that according to its random representative sample of polling stations across the country, Tsvangirai won just over 49% of the vote. A presidential candidate needs at least 50% plus one vote to avoid a runoff.
A runoff would have to be held within 21 days, leaving it close to the 28th anniversary of independence on April 18, 1980. Mugabe, who led a guerrilla movement that fought a seven-year war to end white minority rule, regards the anniversary as a potent symbol of his rule.
source (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-01-zimbabwe-election_N.htm)
Negotiations May Lead to Mugabe’s Exit in Zimbabwe
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
HARARE, Zimbabwe (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/zimbabwe/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) — The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/morgan_tsvangirai/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is in talks with advisers to President Robert G. Mugabe (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/robert_mugabe/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Zimbabwe, amid signs that some of those close to Mr. Mugabe may encourage him to resign, a Western diplomatic source and a prominent Zimbabwe political analyst said Tuesday. The negotiations about a possible transfer of power away from Mr. Mugabe began after he apparently concluded that a runoff election would be demeaning, a diplomat said.
A resignation by Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, would be a stunning turnabout in a country where he has been accused of consistently manipulating election results to maintain his lock on power.
There is no guarantee the negotiations will succeed, and the situation could still deteriorate. But a Western diplomat and a political analyst said the opposition was negotiating with Zimbabwe’s military, central intelligence organization and prisons chief.
“The chiefs of staff are talking to Morgan and are trying to put into place transitional structures,” said John Makumbe, a political analyst and insider in local politics who has spoken in the past in favor of the opposition.
“The chiefs of staff are not split; they are loyally at Mugabe’s side,” Mr. Makumbe said. “But they are not negotiating for Mr. Mugabe. They are negotiating for themselves. They are negotiating about reprisals and recriminations and blah blah blah. They are doing it for their own security.”
A spokesman for Mr. Tsvangirai, George Sibotshiwe, said, “I don’t know anything about such meetings.”
The diplomat said the joint chiefs had entered the negotiations after receiving feelers from Mr. Tsvangirai. The Western diplomat then said the leaders of the armed forces advised Mr. Mugabe on Monday to engineer a second-round runoff in the presidential race, but Mr. Mugabe responded that a runoff would be a humiliation to him.
source (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/world/africa/02zimbabwe.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)
AP: Mugabe's aides discuss ceding power
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Advisers of Zimbabwe's president and main opposition leader are discussing Robert Mugabe relinquishing power, the Associated Press learned Tuesday from a businessman close to the state electoral commission and a lawyer close to the opposition.
The businessman said Mugabe has been told he is far behind Tsvangirai in preliminary results from Saturday's presidential elections and that there could be an uprising if Mugabe were declared the winner. Both sources spoke on condition they were not identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Several diplomats said they had heard similar reports but could not corroborate the information. Asked about the report in a telephone call, Tendai Biti, secretary-general of Tsvangirai's party, said, "It's rubbish," and hung up.
Zimbabwe's security chiefs have told the Electoral Commission to issue results portraying a close race, to prevent celebrations that could ignite violence with rival party militants, the businessman said.
Political analyst John Makumbe said he had learned from military sources that they would honor the results of the elections. That would indicate a change of heart since the security chiefs the day before the elections warned they would not serve anybody but Mugabe and would not tolerate an opposition victory.
Tsvangirai on Tuesday postponed his first public statement since the elections until later in the day. His spokesman George Shibotshiwe said that was because the opposition party had received "a tremendous breakthrough in the numbers coming in" from Saturday's voting.
The opposition already has claimed victory in the elections that hinged on the destruction of the economy with people suffering to survive inflation soaring beyond 100,000%.
Tsvangirai has vowed not to entertain an alliance with Mugabe but has said previously that he is ready to negotiate an exit package for Zimbabwe's ruler for 28 years. He also has said that Mugabe should be tried for human rights abuses, possibly in an international court.
It appeared Mugabe was persuaded into talks by the possibility of a runoff presidential race, which the businessman said he would find too demeaning.
In a statement late Monday, the independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network said that according to its random representative sample of polling stations across the country, Tsvangirai won just over 49% of the vote. A presidential candidate needs at least 50% plus one vote to avoid a runoff.
A runoff would have to be held within 21 days, leaving it close to the 28th anniversary of independence on April 18, 1980. Mugabe, who led a guerrilla movement that fought a seven-year war to end white minority rule, regards the anniversary as a potent symbol of his rule.
source (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-01-zimbabwe-election_N.htm)