Statement from PM Tsvangirai on his trip

Statement by the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, The Right Honourable Morgan Tsvangirai, Upon His Return to Zimbabwe from Europe and The United States, Harare, 30 June, 2009

Members of the Diplomatic Corp, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen;
Three weeks ago, I undertook my inaugural international visit as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, visiting the United States, Scandinavia and Europe
This visit was initiated by my office as part of the implementation of the
100 Day Plan and the commitments Government made at the Victoria Falls
Ministerial retreat, where it was agreed that we need to reengage the
international community at a political and economic level.

The visit was an essential step in the process of repositioning Zimbabwe in
the family of nations and redefining our national foreign policy agenda. The
primary purpose of the visit was to begin Zimbabwe’s re-engagement with key international donors whose support of the people of Zimbabwe goes back many years.

In this respect, the visit was an overwhelming success. Every one of the
countries I visited expressed their unequivocal support for the direction
our country is taking, for our democratisation agenda and for the people of
Zimbabwe. In addition, in Brussels I launched the formal re-engagement
process with the European Union as outlined in the Cotonou Agreement.

The response from the EU was immediate and encouraging. The EU committed itself to availing us with transitional and humanitarian support to the tune of more than US$150 million. They also pledged more support which will be guided by the way in which we meet our own political commitments as outline in the GPA.

As a nation, we should be humbled by the number of friends we have
internationally and for their desire to work with us to rebuild our country.
As part of the re-engagement process, I discussed with the leaders I met,
the opportunities that Zimbabwe has and the obstacles that we still face to
realise those opportunities. In this regard, I also raised the issue of the
transitional support that we require to move towards delivering the
freedoms, services and society that Zimbabweans demand and deserve.

In this respect as well, the trip was a success. In every country I visited,
each leader that I met expressed their desire and ability to help us during
this transitional phase.

The pledges we received, for both humanitarian and transitional assistance
totalling almost US$500 million. My office is in the process of finalising
the amounts pledged and their allocations and details will be released in
due course. At this point, I would also like to state that in our drive to
rebuild Zimbabwe, we are not limited to a “look west” or “look east” policy,
but rather we are committed to engaging our friends in all parts of the
globe.

While I was away, Government, through Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, also
secured lines of credit from China totalling US$950 million. Ladies and
Gentlemen, the amount of assistance that was raised on my visit to Europe
and the United States does not reflect the enormous support we will be able
to utilise if we are to fulfil all our political obligations.

In every country, each leader I met expressed reservations about the delays
in the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement. They asked,
why, after almost five months, had fundamental obligations undertaken by the respective political parties not been implemented?

Both in Europe and the United States, leaders stated that they had concerns
about the success of the new, transitional political dispensation as the
Government has not yet been fully constituted due to the outstanding issues.
These issues are not foreign benchmarks imposed from outside Zimbabwe, but are our own conditions that we committed ourselves to meeting when we signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

As such, the concerns of the international community are legitimate and the
three political parties as the signatories to the GPA, and particularly the
leaders of those parties, must take responsibility for the failure to
implement fully the obligations we have signed up to.

As a nation, if we want outside assistance, we must first prove that we are
able to fulfil the obligations we have undertaken within the agreement that
was brokered by SADC. In this regard, we will be judged by what we do and not by what we say. Actions speak louder than words and while I was away there were instances of peaceful protestors being beaten by our police, innocent individuals arrested on trumped up charges and continued vilification of the MDC by the state media. What do these actions say about our commitment to building a new Zimbabwe?

Ladies and Gentlemen, those parties and individuals that are blocking the
full implementation of the GPA are blocking national progress and
international assistance.

The outstanding issues that must be resolved, and resolved immediately, are
a matter of record and were articulated clearly yesterday by Deputy Prime
Minister Khupe.
The Ministers from my party disengaged from the Cabinet meeting held
yesterday. I understand their frustrations and concerns. It is the same
frustration expressed by Zimbabweans in general and the international
community that we wish to reengage with as a nation. These frustrations
emanate from the slow pace of the implementation of the GPA.

As a principal in the inclusive Government, I have taken it upon myself to
engage my two partners, President Mugabe and Deputy Prime Minister
Mutambara, to address these issues and bring finality to the formation of
the inclusive Government. This engagement includes the referral to SADC of
some of the outstanding issues.

I endorse the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Khupe, that the greatest
challenge Zimbabwe faces is one of old attitudes that refuse to accept the
new order. We all have a responsibility as Zimbabweans in general, and the
three political parties in particular, to simply implement what we agreed.

Zimbabweans do not want a half-implemented agreement that brings with it
more disappointment than hope and more frustration than progress. My party
is committed to the GPA and committed to taking our country forward, with
the support of our people.

Those residual elements in our midst must decide whether or not they are
going to honour the commitments they made or whether they are going to
continue to attempt to obstruct and impede the progress of our nation.

It must be understood by all today, that any individual, or group of
individuals, who are standing in the way of progress in the implementation
of the GPA, are also standing in the way of Zimbabwe’s rebirth and
reengagement with the family of nations at a political and economic level,
including the removal of any restrictive measures..

Those who are serious about fulfilling these commitments will work to
immediately resolve the outstanding issues in a matter of days, not weeks.
Ladies and Gentlemen, my recent trip confirmed that the international
community is ready and willing to help Zimbabwe, but they need us to help
ourselves by standing by the political commitments we have undertaken. The
time for talking about our commitments is now past and we must implement
those obligations for the betterment of our nation.

The MDC expects, and the people deserve, only true partners in progress who
are prepared to put the best interests of our nation above all other
considerations. As Prime Minister, I am committed to Zimbabwe’s
re-engagement. I am committed to rebuilding our nation and I call upon all
patriotic Zimbabweans to join me on this irreversible journey to a new
people-driven constitution and free and fair elections.

I thank you.

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