Biti says talks have reached deadlock

By Tichaona Sibanda

Tendai Biti, the secretary-general of the MDC-T and also the chief negotiator for the party, has said dialogue between the three parties is ‘going nowhere’ and that as negotiators they had ‘reached the ceiling.’

Biti, who is the Finance Minister in the inclusive government, told journalists on the eve of his trip to Washington in the USA, that SADC and South Africa should move in to help break the deadlock.

Biti’s statement was widely covered in the South Africa media on Friday. He added that negotiators from the two MDC parties and ZANU PF had ‘irredeemably’ failed to resolve their differences.

‘We are going nowhere on the dialogue and therefore it is very important for President Zuma and South Africa to step in and step in quickly. We as negotiators have reached our ceiling. It should be taken out of our hands. Continuing to let us negotiate we are wasting time because we have tried. We have been negotiating since the 14th of May 2007,’ Biti said.

The Finance Minister also told journalists they could go no further as negotiators, saying they therefore needed ‘a bigger brain – that of President Jacob Zuma and more wisdom from SADC’. South African based analyst Munjonzi Mutandiri told us Biti was telling the world what most Zimbabweans knew from last year, that talks were not going anywhere.

‘Biti is being honest. These talks have long been deadlocked and SADC and Zuma are fully aware that ZANU PF is dragging its feet on this issue by portraying an image that they are still interested in the talks when all they are not,’ Mutandiri said.

Clifford Mashiri, a London based analyst, warned the MDC that by insisting on Zuma or SADC to help them break the impasse was playing into the hands of Mugabe.

‘The MDC should approach the United Nations for intervention. If they do that, sooner rather than later we will see a quick transformation and a return to normalcy with help in drafting a new constitution, drawing up constituency boundaries, updating the electoral roll, facilitating the safe return of those in the Diaspora and holding of peaceful elections followed by investment and a once again vibrant independent Zimbabwe,’ Mashiri said. SW Radio Africa