President Robert Mugabe's government is accusing BotswanaPresident Ian Khama of infringing upon Zimbabwe's sovereignty after Khamareportedly said the only way to resolve the political crisis is through a freshelections. Harare described President Khama's statement as an act of extremeprovocation, which it claims is an affront to all Zimbabweans. Khama, who has beena harsh critic of President Mugabe's rule, said that fresh electionswas the only way out of the deadlock that threatens to derail a power-sharingdeal between the ruling ZANU-PF and the main opposition Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC). The diplomatic row between Harare and Gabarone comes ahead of aSouthern African Development Community scheduled emergency meeting this weekendto find ways of resolving Zimbabwe's stalled negotiations between thegovernment and the opposition.
GeorgeMkwananzi is a Zimbabwean political analyst. He tells reporter Peter Clotteyfrom South Africa's capital, Pretoria that Harare's outrage is unfounded.
"Tostart with, it is not surprising that the Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe hasresponded to criticism coming from Botswana the way they have done. If youlisten carefully, you can hear that it is a very militant response, especiallyas it alludes around the nature of extreme provocation and casting the wholeissues as if it is something bordering on war. That is the kind of languagethat ZANU-PF loves and we are not surprised that the spokesman for such kind oftalk is none other than Patrick Chinamasa," Mkwananzi pointed out.
He said the ruling party hasa knack for being harsh on their critics.
"It has become quite atradition for ZANU-PF to respond to all the people that criticize themlegitimately and justly in the manner that they have done. However, if othercountries like Namibia's president praised them they welcome it. But if thesame member of SADC decides to criticize them, then they behave the way thatthey have done," he said.
Mkwananzi sharply disagreeswith Harare over its claims that Gabarone is interfering in Zimbabwe's internalpolitical dynamics.
"I don't agree with suchsentiment. A member of SADC and indeed a member of the international communityare right to raise concerns when issues like what is happening in Zimbabwewhere there is extreme breakdown of everything, including humanitarianstructures, which have collapsed like that to express that concern and hopethat something moves fast so that tings normalize. So, what the president ofBotswana has done is to just express those concerns because the talks have notbeen able to produce things that would soon ameliorate the conditions of thepeople of Zimbabwe," Mkwananzi pointed out.
PresidentMugabe and the leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change agreedon September 15 to share power, but talks have stalled over control ofministries.
Forming a unity government is seen as critical to reversing the economicmeltdown in the southern African nation.
Meanwhile,main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would become prime minister under thepower-sharing deal, has accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF of trying to seize the lion'sshare of important ministries to try to relegate the MDC to the role of juniorpartner.