| |
Back to Index
This article participates on the following special index pages:
Talks, dialogue, negotiations and GNU - Post June 2008 "elections" - Index of articles
Agreement
must reflect the will of Zimbabweans
The
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
September 16, 2008
The Congress
of South African Trade Unions has noted the agreement
signed by the leaders of the political parties in Zimbabwe on 15
September 2008.
We stand by our view that it is only the people of Zimbabwe who
must judge whether or not this deal is in their interests. We are
therefore awaiting the comments of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions and will be guided by them.
Meanwhile, while awaiting the ZCTU's response, only insofar as the
people accept it, we give the agreement our cautious support, but
note that many of the demands raised by civil society and supported
by COSATU have not been met, including:
- Civil society
has been shut out of the negotiations and it has thus been an
agreement between the political leaders;
- The agreement
does not recognize the result of the 29 March elections. As a
result the loser has become the winner and the winner the loser;
- MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai is effectively in charge of a cluster of ministries,
while President Mugabe still has extensive powers;
- The agreement
is not for an interim government until new elections have been
held but for a normal full-term government;
- All Mugabe's
draconian laws remain in place, which give him, for example, the
power to arrest political opponents.
The agreement
marks a dangerous spread of the Kenyan virus that sends a signal
to dictators that they can defy the will of the people by force
and then retain power through negotiations, brokered by other African
leaders. It marks a retreat from the principles that the African
Union and SADC are supposed to uphold and a return to the bad traditions
of the Organisation of African Unity that sacrificed the interests
of the people to protect dictators.
Meanwhile COSATU waits to hear from the ZCTU, after which it will
consider their advice as to whether to continue with the proposed
programme of boycotts. If they ask us to proceed we shall do so.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
