Sep 18, 2007, 16:18 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg - An international think-tank on Tuesday called on leaders from southern Africa to put pressure on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to retire.
The call by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ISG) came as Zimbabwe's parliament began debating a constitutional amendment bill that would boost Mugabe's chances of re-election and allow him to appoint a successor.
In a report entitled 'Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?', the ICG said Zimbabwe was now an increasingly desperate country that was in danger of destabilizing the whole region.
The 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) was Zimbabwe's 'only real hope,' the ICG said, urging Western leaders 'to close ranks' behind the mediation attempts of South African President Thabo Mbeki.
The report coincided with the release of figures by Zimbabwe's Central Statistics Office that showed hyperinflation had slowed to an annualized 6,593 per cent, down from 7,635 per cent in July.
The drop was attributed to a government decree in June forcing traders to slash prices by over half on a range of goods. The move resulted in panic-buying and widespread shortages.
'SADC has the capacity to reverse a downward spiral that threatens the region's stability, but they must be prepared to support the initiative they have begun and Mbeki's mandate,' ICG senior advisor Andebrhan Giorgis said.
Mbeki was tasked by SADC in March with defusing political tension in Zimbabwe after police arrested and beat dozens of opposition members and rights activists.
Talks between Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) aimed at creating conditions for free and fair elections in March 2008, have been going on behind closed doors in Pretoria for several months.
It is believed the MDC is pushing for major electoral and constitutional reforms before expressing willingness to participate in any election against Mugabe, who is expected to stand for a fourth term in office.
On Tuesday, in spite of the MDC's demands, Zimbabwean parliamentarians began debating a constitutional amendment bill that would further strengthen the ruling party's stranglehold on power.
The bill would allow the ZANU-PF-dominated parliament to select a president if a vacancy arose between elections in what is considered a bid by Mugabe to handpick his successor, if he agrees to step down after the elections.
The legislation also proposes the withdrawal of constituency boundaries in a move critics say is aimed at giving rural areas where ZANU-PF is strongest greater clout.
Since Mbeki was appointed as the region's point man on Zimbabwe, economic conditions in the once-prosperous country have rapidly worsened.
A state-ordered price slash in June has resulted in acute shortages of basic foods like meat, bread and milk. Life expectancy has plummeted to the mid-30s and unemployment is running at around 80 per cent.
The ICG report echoed the concerns of some Mugabe opponents about attitudes to the octogenarian former revolutionary who has been in power for 27 years.
'Some SADC leaders continue to support Mugabe, and there is a risk the organization would accept cosmetic changes that would further entrench the status quo,' it said.
'The wider international community should make detailed preparations to contribute to Zimbabwe's recovery if the mediation succeeds, but also be ready to apply tougher sanctions if it collapses,' the ICG said.
South Africa-based Zimbabwe analyst Diana Games, said Tuesday: 'The international community has to decide now what it will accept as free and fair when it comes to elections in Zimbabwe.'
The wait-and-see approach adopted by many Western countries over promised reforms in the lead-up to Zimbabwe's 2005 parliamentary polls had backfired, she said. When the election failed to meet their standards of fairness, they cried foul but it was too late.
With only six months to go to elections and the opposition in disarray, 'the time is too short for really credible elections that reflect the will of all Zimbabweans,' Games, who heads the Africa@Work consultancy, said.
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