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“They would not interfere with how the institutions are run because that would be tampering with executive bodies and they have no authority to give them instructions.”
But political commentators and Government officials questioned the facilitators’ motives ahead of general elections expected early next year.
President Mugabe has since indicated that the elections will be held not later than March next year.
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“They are meeting officials from executive bodies without Government representatives and that constitutes some degree of interference in a sovereign State,” a Government official said yesterday.
Zanu-PF and MDC formations signed the GPA in September 2008 leading to the formation of the inclusive Government in February of the following year. The major outstanding GPA issues are the
West’s illegal economic sanctions regime, foreign meddling in domestic political affairs and Western-sponsored pirate radio broadcasts.
Zanu-PF insists that its partners in the inclusive Government should call for the lifting of the sanctions, but MDC-T insists that the embargo is targeted.
MDC-T has upped its claims, calling for issues such as security sector reforms and an address to alleged incidents of violence across the country.
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The parties have agreed on an election roadmap that is expected to lead to the holding of free and fair elections.
The GPA partners have failed to agree on a number of the issues, leading to an impasse that is threatening to derail the holding of elections.
The facilitation team has met officials from ZEC, Jomic and Copac, while more meetings were scheduled for yesterday.
Efforts to get a comment from the facilitation team were fruitless as their mobile phones went unanswered.
Sources said the facilitation team met representatives from the institutions without escort from Government officials.
“The meetings are shrouded in secrecy as they are travelling with embassy officials,” a source close to the negotiations said yesterday.
“The facilitation team has its own security provided by their embassy and no one is representing the Government side.”
The source said the facilitation team risked diverting from its terms of reference.
“Their mandate is facilitation and when they start engaging statutory bodies without Government facilitation, they risk violating the Sadc position of non-interference in sovereign States,” he said.
The Zimbabwean situation, the source said, was reaching its conclusive period and Zimbabweans should decide that finality.
“If anything is done outside the negotiation forum, the facilitation team risks being involved in backdoor electioneering,” he said.
President Zuma’s team has since met negotiators from the three GPA partners.
They agreed that President Zuma convenes a meeting in Harare that would be attended by the GPA principals, the facilitators and negotiators.
The negotiators would meet on November 18 before a meeting with the facilitators five days later.
That would culminate in a meeting to be attended by President Zuma, President Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, the facilitation and negotiating teams.
Online Reporter