THE summit of the SADC Troika on
Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation,in Dar es salaam over the
weekend again put the political developments in Madagascar in the
limelight,with yet fresh questions as to whether the General Elections
in May would open a new chapter for the country.
President Jakaya Kikwete,who is head of
the SADC Troika on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation chaired
the Summit over the weekend. The Madagascan authorities have announced
that presidential elections will be held in May and parliamentary
elections in July.
The implementation of a road map agreed
by all the main Madagascan political forces in September 2011 has been
made difficult by the threats issued by the Rajoelina regime that the
deposed president, Marc Ravalomanana, will be arrested if he returns to
the country.
In order to break the impasse,
Ravalomanana has announced that he will not be a candidate in the
forthcoming elections. But SADC hopes to persuade both Rajoelina and
Ravalomanana to stand down. Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, who is
the current chairperson of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia (the deputy chairperson), and
Jacob Zuma of South Africa (the outgoing chairperson) also attended.
Addressing the opening session of the
meeting for ministers during the week, Foreign Minister Bernard Membe
said the summit is urgent “due to the dynamic nature of the crises we
face in Madagascar, the DRC and Zimbabwe”. According to the programme
for the summit, the man who seized power in Madagascar in 2009, Andry
Rajoelina, addressed the SADC leaders about the situation on the island
on Friday morning.
Since the 2009 coup, Madagascar has been
suspended from membership of both SADC and the African Union, pending
the restoration of constitutional order. The Madagascan authorities have
announced that presidential elections will be held in May and
parliamentary elections in July. The implementation of a road map agreed
by all the main Madagascan political forces in September 2011 has been
made difficult by the threats issued by the Rajoelina regime that the
deposed president, Marc Ravalomanana, will be arrested if he returns to
the country.
In order to break the impasse,
Ravalomanana has announced that he will not be a candidate in the
forthcoming elections. But SADC hopes to persuade both Rajoelina and
Ravalomanana to stand down. As for Zimbabwe, SADC’s concern is that free
and credible elections should be held later this year. The elections
are now in doubt because one of the pre-conditions for holding them, a
new constitution, is still not in place.
Negotiators from the three main
political parties (President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and both factions
of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC) produced a draft
constitution last year. To the anger of the MDC, ZANU-PF has tried to
introduce last minute amendments to the draft, making it quite
impossible to hold a referendum on the constitution in October, as had
initially been planned.
Mugabe has recently threatened that
elections will be held anyway, on the basis of the old constitution, a
position unacceptable to the MDC. SADC is also seriously concerned at
the conflict in the eastern DRC, pitting the M23 rebel movement against
the government of President Joseph Kabila. At its annual heads of state
summit held in Maputo in August, SADC blamed Rwanda for the conflict,
and demanded that Rwanda immediately ease its support for the M23.
Guebuza, in his first mission as SADC
chairperson, carried this message personally to Rwandan President Paul
Kagame later in August. International anger has obliged the United
Nations to impose sanctions against the M23. These are having some
effect, in that the M23 has declared a unilateral ceasefire, ahead of a
second round of negotiations with the Congolese government in Kampala.
The M23’s Executive Secretary and chief
negotiator, Francois Rucogoza, told reporters that his movement would
continue with the peace talks, regardless of whether Kabila’s government
also signed the ceasefire. Summit considered the political and security
situation in the region, in particular the latest developments in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Madagascar and the
Republic of Zimbabwe.
In the previous Summit in early December
2012, these were the resolutions: Summit:(i) reaffirmed the
indivisibility and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of the Democratic Republic of Congo; (ii) expressed deep concern
regarding the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in
eastern DRC due to the prevailing situation; (iii) strongly condemned
the M23 and all its attacks on the civilian population, United Nations
Peacekeepers and humanitarian actors, as well as its abuses of human
rights, including summary executions, sexual and gender based violence;
(iv) affirmed that SADC, as a block will
deploy the SADC Standby Force in the Eastern DRC under the auspices of
the Neutral International Force(NIF) (v) welcomed the decision of the
ICGLR to mandate the United Republic of Tanzania to appoint a Force
Commander for the NIF to be deployed in the Eastern DRC; Tanzania’s
Director of Information Department (MAELEZO), Mr Assah Mwambene at the
SADC Summit in Dar es salaam with another SADC official.
(vi) mandated the SADC Interstate
Politics and Diplomacy Committee (ISPDC) and the SADC Secretariat to
work together with the ICGLR to engage the African Union Peace and the
United Nations Security Council for support to the deployment and
sustenance; (vi) urged UN to change MONUSCO mandate to the United
Nations Chapter VII; (vii) commended the United Republic of Tanzania and
the Republic of South Africa for pledging one battalion and logistics
support for the NIF respectively; and (viii) commended the DRC for
contributing funds for the deployment of the NIF. On Madagascar:Summit
commended:
(i) His Excellency Joachim Chissano,
former President of the Republic of Mozambique and the SADC Mediator on
the political conflict in Madagascar for his efforts towards restoring
the constitutional normalcy in the country; (ii) His Excellency Jacob
Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa and the Outgoing
Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation
for his contribution in resolving the crisis in the country; (
iii) His Excellency James Michel,
President of the Republic of Seychelles for his contribution in
assisting the Malagasy towards finding a lasting solution to the
political situation in their country. 8.2 Summit endorsed the report of
the SADC Mediator and: (i) urged the Malagasy political stakeholders to
fully implement the Madagascar Roadmap in the letter and spirit; (ii)
urged that the dates of 8 May 2013 for Presidential Elections and 25
July 2013 for Parliamentary Elections be respected by all parties
concerned;
(iii) Summit took note of, and undertook
to give serious consideration to the request to SADC to contribute 10
million U$ to the Malagasy elections of 2013. In this regard, the Summit
urged SADC Member States to make timely voluntary contributions. Summit
also directed the Secretariat to mobilise financial and logistical
support from the international community. 8.3 Summit reiterated its
decision that former President Mr. Marc Ravalomanana should return to
Madagascar unconditionally. 8.4 Summit reemphasized that the two
candidates, Mr Marc Ravalomanana and Mr. Andry Rajoelina, should be
persuaded not to stand in the forthcoming general elections as a way
forward towards resolving this crisis.
8.5 Summit reiterated its position that
the Amnesty Law be implemented in order to create conducive conditions
for the return of the political exiles including Mr. Ravalomanana. 8.6
Summit urged the political stakeholders to develop legislation before
the May 2013 elections that would guarantee the privileges of the former
Heads of State. 8.7 Summit urged the Transitional Government to repeal
the legislations intended to exclude its citizens from participating in
the coming elections.
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