Report on whether Zimbabwe will be allowed to express its national sovereignty by running its own elections withou the interference of SADC or South Africa.
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 277 (CW374E)
PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO: 19-2013 OF 21 JUNE 2013
MR K A SINCLAIR (COPE-NC) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION:
(1) Whether Zimbabwe will be allowed to express its national sovereignty by running its own elections without the interference of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or South Africa (details furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
REPLY:
(1) It should be noted that the three main political parties in Zimbabwe namely Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC-N signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in September 2008 which was mediated by South Africa on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Article 22 of the GPA stipulates that South Africa, SADC and the African Union (AU) are the guarantors of the GPA. This Article places obligations on the part of the guarantors. Since then SADC, through South Africa, has been assisting the political leadership in Zimbabwe to implement the GPA.
Therefore SADC’s involvement in Zimbabwe cannot be characterised as interference as it seeks to assist Zimbabwe to achieve political and economic stability. Ultimately political responsibility lies with the leadership of Zimbabwe.
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