Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Ends Coalition Boycott

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called off his boycott of the country’s unity government after regionally mediated talks with President Robert Mugabe.

Speaking at a summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of states in Maputo, Mozambique, Tsvangirai gave Mugabe 30 days to implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that brought them together in a unity government after disputed elections last year.

For one month, Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have withheld participation in the unity government citing intimidation by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and the president’s seeming unwillingness to implement the GPA fully.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, who chaired the Maputo summit, challenged the two leaders to re-engage each other for the benefit of the Zimbabwean people and the greater southern African region.

Human rights lobbyists have urged greater pressure on Mugabe to improve his human rights record and enact reforms that will ensure restoration of foreign aid. [ER].