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Land Agreement Not to Solve Real Crisis: Zimbabwean Opposition
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Friday a breakthrough made in land talks between Zimbabwe and Britain in Abuja, Nigeria, did not resolve the real crisis Zimbabwe is facing.
Tendai Biti, MDC shadow secretary for foreign affairs, told local reporters that any genuine attempt to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis should solve the problems of the rule of law, the economy, the 2002 presidential election, the land issue and pending humanitarian crisis.
Biti said there was need as a way forward for the Commonwealth member states at the Abuja conference to define a short period of monitoring and consultations in Zimbabwe to cover civic society, farmers and opposition parties.
Britain and Zimbabwe Thursday night reached an agreement to solve the land issue which had soured bilateral relations.
But, Biti, also MDC secretary for land, said the Abuja agreement is "a short-term breathing measure", adding that it did not carry the force of an international treaty and was "a gentleman's agreement".
Due to its domestic and international crisis, the government of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front had little choice but to find respite as it sought to cling to power until the 2002 presidential election, he said.
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