ZIMBABWE:Zimbabwe's main opposition party has reached a surprise agreement with the government over the staging of elections next year.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said yesterday it would not object to the government's planned constitutional Bill, paving the way for a joint presidential and parliamentary ballot in March.
"This should be regarded as a first step in resolving the national crisis," said Thokozani Khupe, deputy leader of the main MDC faction.
"As a confidence-building measure we have made a bold decision not to stand in the way of the constitutional amendments," she told parliament in Harare.
Welshman Ncube, a senior figure in a rival MDC faction, said some people might believe the party had "abandoned its principles" by doing a deal with the government.
But, he added: "Zimbabweans are faced with a national crisis . . . This is our attempt to say, 'let's reach out to each other'. " The agreement comes just days after the leaders of the two rival MDC factions met in Pretoria with South African president Thabo Mbeki, who has been charged by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with mediating on the Zimbabwe crisis.
Zimbabwean justice minister Patrick Chinamasa sought to play down suggestions that the deal was reached with outside influence, and told lawmakers they "should send a clear message that Zimbabweans are their own liberators and brook no interference in their internal affairs".
The MDC had previously criticised the Bill, claiming it would make it easier for president Robert Mugabe to rig elections.
The legislation will change electoral boundaries, increase the number of MPs and bring the parliamentary ballot forward by two years.
It will also allow Mr Mugabe to appoint a presidential successor while in office.
As part of a compromise with the MDC, however, the government has agreed to limit the president's powers to appoint members of parliament.
In a related development, an influential think-tank has urged western powers to "close ranks" behind Mr Mbeki, saying Zimbabwe's only hope of change rested in the South African president's mediation efforts.
In a report published yesterday, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) acknowledged western frustration over Mr Mbeki's policy of "quiet diplomacy".
However, it warned against ostracising southern African leaders who were working towards change.
"The SADC initiative is fragile but South Africa and the other regional countries are the only external actors with a chance to make a difference," said the ICG.
"Western sanctions - mainly targeting just over 200 members of the leadership with travel bans and asset freezes - have proven largely symbolic, and general condemnations from the UK and US if anything counterproductive because they help Mugabe claim he is the victim of neo-colonial ambitions."
The group said the lifting of sanctions should be used as a bargaining chip in SADC negotiations - but only in exchange for full co-operation by Mr Mugabe with the mediation process, and implementation of reforms that would allow for free and fair elections.
The delicate nature of Mr Mbeki's mediation efforts have been underlined in recent weeks by the emergence of contradictory reports in the media relating to the South African president's impartiality.
The ICG said Zimbabwe was "closer than ever to complete collapse" with inflation officially running at over 7,600 per cent and four out of five people living below the poverty line.