South African president Thabo Mbeki was on Thursday expected to present the warring MDC factions with a draft unity agreement designed to bond the two factions that split ways in October over the controversial decision to participate the senate elections. Diplomatic sources said the document will be given to Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputies while the other would be presented to Professor Arthur Mutambara. Pressure has been mounting on both factions to swallow their pride and reach a deal to end a rift that has broke the hearts of many Zimbabweans, and confront the Mugabe regime head on as a united front.After seven months of inconclusive negotiations led by Legal Affairs chief David Coltart to end the impasse, Mbeki has jumped onto the fray and is expected to set a deadline for wrapping up the unity deal at the talks in Pretoria. A senior diplomat told Zimdaily that Mbeki would discuss the state of the opposition and other issues in relation to ZimbabweÂ’s political and economic problems in which South Africa has an interest.
Sources said Mbeki was working out a way to mix Mutambara’s attempt to “rebrand” the MDC as a Pan Africanist party and Tsvangirai’s overwhelming grassroots support to build a formidable opposition, which he asserts would be good for multi party democracy in Zimbabwe. During his previous meeting with Mbeki last month, Mutambara told the SA leader that his faction was Pan-Africanist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist and supported regional and African economic integration as well as Nepad, and, he was very pleased a source said.
During his campaigns, Mutambara has said his political allies in Africa included the ANC, PAC, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party.
| Why doesn't that give me the warm fuzzies? |
Zimdaily heard that Tsvangirai would be expected back in Zimbabwe today while Mutambara and his delegation will proceed to the UK where they are set to address a rally at the Claremont Resource Centre in Manchester city on Sunday. Efforts to obtain comment from both factions were futile last night.