This week's issues
| Commonwealth leaders accused of ‘failing’ Zimbabwe |
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| Written by SWRadio Africa |
| Monday, 23 November 2009 17:53 |
 Commonwealth leaders were on Monday accused of surrendering their ‘moral leadership’ by failing to act on Zimbabwe’s political crisis, according to a new report set to shake up a Commonwealth summit scheduled to begin in Trinidad and Tobago next week.The report, which was part funded by the Commonwealth itself, also accuses the 53 member organisation of ignoring conflicts between member countries. It states that the group has backtracked on a pledge to encourage democratic principles, which were ironically set out at a summit in Zimbabwe in 1991, adding there has been a failure to defend good governance. The report, Democracy in the Commonwealth, says too many member countries have failed to encourage or allow open political competition. According to the UK news service, the BBC, the report argues that a series of problematic polls, notably in Kenya and Zimbabwe, have reinforced doubts about the role of elections in resolving deep-seated problems of political transition. It adds that negotiating some form of inclusive government after such troubled polls does not guarantee future progress. These concerns are particularly noticeable in Zimbabwe, where a violent post election period resulted only in election winner, Morgan Tsvangirai, entering into a flawed unity deal with Robert Mugabe. The so-called unity government has done little since its inception more than eight months ago to change the situation on the ground. Instead, political deadlocks and inter-party fighting have dominated the country’s political sphere, leaving the humanitarian crisis to deepen, and tensions to rise. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in 2002 after the fraudulent elections that kept Mugabe firmly in power. Mugabe then announced a year later that he was pulling Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth permanently, after the suspension was extended. Since the formation of the unity government in February, there has been talk about Zimbabwe reentering the Commonwealth, but no course has yet been taken. According to the UK news agency, the Financial Times, the report represents the most thorough and direct review of the organisation in its history. The report was commissioned by the London based Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit and the Electoral Reform International Services, but will have the status of an in-house Commonwealth document. The report was also endorsed by Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winner for economics. In a foreword, Sen writes that now is the time ‘to move from affirmation [of the principles agreed in Zimbabwe] to full implementation.’ The report proposes regular, obligatory democracy ‘health checks’ among other reforms. The report authors suggest Commonwealth observer missions be given the right to monitor member state elections, a process that currently requires a formal invitation from the host government. They also call for the strengthening of the mandate of the Commonwealth ministerial action group. |
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