GPA parties step up summit preps

summit of Sadc heads of state and government scheduled for South Africa this weekend amid indications it will be a routine event after the negotiators agreed on minutes to be forwarded to the summit.
The extraordinary summit will be held on the sidelines of the Comesa, Sadc and East African Community Tripartite Summit in Johannesburg.
In separate interviews last night, representatives from the three main political parties said they were all geared up for the summit.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said the party would establish a position paper spelling out where it stands.
“We are going to have a position paper for the party which will bear our perspective position on the so-called roadmap on elections and the Copac referendum.
“In fact all the things that we would like to be put across at the summit will all be contained in the party paper,” he said.
Cde Gumbo said Zanu-PF would distribute leaflets and handouts at the Summit.
He, however said Zanu PF would not interfere on the role of the facilitation team.
“We have intellectuals, professors and supporters who want to go to South Africa and we still urge them to go if they want to. However, as a party we are against the idea of sending an advance party to the meeting. We have a strong delegation led by President Mugabe and we don’t want to seem as if we want to influence the regional leaders,” he said.
MDC secretary-general and Regional and International Cooperation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said her party expected the facilitation team to table the minutes from last month’s meeting in South Africa.
“We presented an agreed report to them (facilitators) and it is our hope that is what is going to be tabled at the Summit,” she said. She however, refused to disclose members who would comprise the party’s delegation.
MD-T representative, Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma said, “I can’t comment on that issue, the best person to comment would be the party spokesperson, (Mr Douglas Mwonzora).”
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Mr Mwonzora were fruitless, as his mobile phone was not reachable.
Negotiators last week met the Sadc facilitators and endorsed minutes from their meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa last month, which forms the agenda of the summit.
The minutes cover the review of the GPA report, election roadmap and the Jomic report.
There were still disagreements among the three parties on various issues.
MDC-T is pushing for security reforms, but Zanu PF insists this was never part of the GPA.
Zanu-PF maintains that the country’s security sector is solid and does not need any reforms.
The discussion on the situation in Zimbabwe should have been held during last month’s Extra Ordinary Summit in Windhoek, Namibia but was deferred to this month after President Mugabe said he wanted all the three parties in the Inclusive Government to be present.
This followed Sadc facilitator, President Zuma’s absence at the summit as he was attending to local government elections in his country.
MDCT claimed a diplomatic coup after the Livingstone meeting when it misled Sadc leaders that Zanu PF was violating the GPA and perpetrating political violence.
The party also claimed that President Mugabe was now incapacitated to run the country and that there was a silent coup in Zimbabwe.
All the three parties could not say of what would happen to the outcome of the Livingstone meeting but they expect the chair of the Sadc Organ, on Politics, Defence and Security Zambian President Rupiah Banda to present a report.