Has quiet diplomacy worked?
April 8th, 2008 | by kilps |Forward note – just because this is the first real post doesn’t mean all posts are about politics … I’m not that simple – ok.
A number of people on Mail and Guardian’s Thought Leader are asking an interesting question – does that possibility of a chance in leadership in Zimbabwe mean that President Mbeki’s policies have worked? Of course everyone has been criticising such policies for ages, but let’s take a look at this theory.
Takwana Makaya argues that through the mandate from SADC to President Mbeki, he has managed to convince President Mugabe to a number of seemingly small concessions which have swung the elections around completely. These are (with my own additions):
- The MDC would be allowed to campaign freely
- Violence was quelled
- Vote counts at individual polling stations where posted outside each station
Any requests over and above these may just have alienated the Zimbabwean Presidency from further negotiations, the idea was to stay on his side.
This generally has been the idea behind quiet diplomacy; it is supposed to be better that there is no open confrontation over issues – the problem is that a little sternness is occasionally. Specifically around the recent events surrounding the releasing of results.
This idea is all very well, but there is one crucial point which most of the respondents to a Talkback question raised – you can only let a situation deteriorate so far before you have to chance strategies, and Zimbabwe is one of those cases where the strategy should have changed ages ago.
Pity about the whole African unity thing preventing that one.
2 Responses to “Has quiet diplomacy worked?”
By Stuart on Apr 13, 2008 | Reply
“There is no crisis in Zimbabwe,” Mbeki told journalists. “The body authorised to release the results is the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, let’s wait for them to announce the results.”
Yes, let’s wait a little longer,after all, any sensible human being can see that everything is just about normal in Zimbabwe – tyranny rules, police have banned political rallies,
the regime is once again responding to intimidation and violence, war veterans once again storm “white” Zimbabwean farms, foreign journalists are banned from reporting inside Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean MDC supporters intimidated by police and security forces, hyper inflation cripples the nation….yes, in an African context Mr Mbeki, everything seems to be just perfectly normal, no crisis at all.
So much for our version of the African Renaissance.
By admin on Apr 13, 2008 | Reply
I would agree now; by now it should be clear that Mugabe should be going and so open criticism is acceptable – the current state is almost warranting intervention and so would any other reaction, I think.