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to ensure the animosity of the past decade ends amicably. Mr Young — who was speaking at a policy dialogue forum organisedby the Southern African Political Economy Series on Tuesday in the wake of his meeting with President Mugabe where he conveyed a message of reconciliation from President Barack Obama — said his visit had been sanctioned by the US Congress and the White House.
“It took a decision-making process in the Congress and in the White House for me to come here.
“The decision for me to come here was made by the Secretary of State (John Kerry) and approved by the President of the United States.”
Mr Young was accompanied by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Mr Reuben Brigety.
Analysts say the US overtures, that come in the wake of similar overtures from Britain, the EU and the Commercial Farmers’ Union, confirmed that Washington had lost confidence in MDC-T’s ability to effect regime change and had bought into the various surveys pointing to a Zanu-PF victory in the forthcoming elections.
The US administration’s reservations with the MDC-T leadership were exposed in a diplomatic cable dated July 13 2007 which was leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks in which the then ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Christopher Dell, laid into MDC-T and its leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai as greenhorns.
“Zimbabwe’s opposition is far from ideal and I leave convinced that had we had different partners, we could have achieved more already. But you have to play the hand you’re dealt.
“With that in mind, the current leadership has little executive experience and will require massive hand-holding and assistance should they ever come to power,’’ Dell said.
Turning to Mr Tsvangirai, Mr Dell said “Tsvangirai is also a flawed figure, not readily open to advice, indecisive and with questionable judgment in selecting those around him.
“He is the indispensable element for opposition success, but possibly an albatross around their necks once in power. In short, he is a kind of Lech Walesa character: Zimbabwe needs him, but should not rely on his executive abilities to lead the country’s recovery.
Mr Young, a veteran US diplomat on African affairs, said the US would work with whoever won the harmonised elections, again another major shift from the previous stance when the US insisted it would only consider Mr Tsvangirai’s victory.
“We can forgive each other,” he told a packed auditorium at the policy dialogue forum. “There is no future without forgiveness. “Take positives of the past and use them to shape the future. We should ask ourselves, how can we give positives to the suffering of the past?
“It is Zimbabweans who can decide who they will elect to lead them and I told him that whoever wins the coming elections, the US will work with that person to improve Zimbabwe. We want to see Zimbabwe transform into a peaceful growing economy.”
Mr Young expressed regret over the deterioration of bilateral relations between Harare and Washington and noted his commitment to working out the disagreements in order to advance political and economic relations.
Relations between Zimbabwe and the US, Britain, the European Union and other western countries deteriorated when the new Labour government of British premier Tony Blair reneged on obligations to fund land reforms in Zimbabwe.
In a wide-ranging discussion that touched on his diplomatic missions of the 1970s and 80s, the Malta, Geneva and Lancaster House talks on the struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence and the Frontline States, Mr Young also spoke about his two-hour meeting with President Mugabe earlier on Tuesday.
“We basically had a good time reminiscing about the good old days,” he said. “Notwithstanding the difficult relations we have had in the past – we felt very comfortable that he was very receptive.
“The President received that message that we are prepared to remove the sanctions. He was quite understanding and he warmly welcomed us. We told him about how the US deeply values building closer partnerships with Zimbabwe and how we attach great importance to the restoration of positive relations between the two countries.
Deputy assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, Mr Brigety said there was hope that relations between his country and Zimbabwe would be restored.
“The decision to engage Andrew Young is the highest in the level of engagement with Zimbabwe,” he said. “He has been a crucial player at the junction of every critical moment in Zimbabwe.
“The US is eager to find ways of re-engaging with Zimbabwe. We can move forward in our relationship. We want Zimbabwe to hold elections that are credible and violence-free. We are anxious for elections to unfold in that manner.”
Commenting on a question from the floor alleging a ‘Zimbabwean crisis’, Young said: “There is no crisis in Zimbabwe, much has plenty to do with the trillions of dollars (investment) that are not coming into the country. A credible election will attract new investment and create new jobs.
“I was impressed about the lack of violence on the land issue (in Zimbabwe) than the land issue in South Africa which has claimed the lives of many people. I didn’t defend how the land issue was done, but I was certain Britain and the US reneged on funding the land issue. When nothing was done, Zimbabwe did what it could under the circumstances.”
Some political analysts at the dialogue series praised the ‘fence mending trip’ for being tailored to address the frosty relations, but criticised it for doing nothing practical to press for the full lifting of sanctions.
Some analysts said if the US was genuine in its latest diplomatic offensive, it could have used Mr Young’s trip to lift sanctions unconditionally without benchmarking them with the holding of elections.
Online Reporter