Africa’s failure means that the challenge of Zimbabwe must now be taken up by the UN Security Council, said Washington Post in an editorial yesterday. Excerpts:
Asha-Rose Migiro, a United Nations deputy secretary-general, bluntly told the African Union summit Monday that the crisis in Zimbabwe presented “a moment of truth for regional leaders.” Sadly, those leaders failed to rise to the occasion. Yesterday, the summit, badly divided between democrats outraged by Robert Mugabe’s campaign of terror against his own people and dictators who have applied similar repression, could agree only on a weak statement calling for a “unity government.” The truth the leaders dodged is that there can be no political peace in Zimbabwe until Mugabe and the clique of thugs around him give up power — and that, in turn, is unlikely to happen if Zimbabwe’s African neighbors do not apply tangible diplomatic and economic sanctions.
Both Mugabe and his opposition, which defeated him in a March 29 election, have publicly rejected the unity government proposal, which has been peddled mainly by such apologists for Mugabe as South African President Thabo Mbeki. The general idea is that Zimbabwe would adopt the model of Kenya, which formed a coalition government after a disputed election last year. But Raila Odinga, the Kenyan opposition leader who became prime minister in that accord, was among those who called for an entirely different course of action on Zimbabwe. The African Union, Odinga said, should “send peace forces to Zimbabwe to ensure free and fair elections.”
Africa’s failure means that the challenge of Zimbabwe must now be taken up by the UN Security Council; Mugabe spurned its unanimous vote in favor of postponing the one-sided runoff election he staged last week. UN is circulating an appropriately tough resolution that would declare Mugabe’s new mandate illegitimate.
