Posted on 07/21/2012 6:30:06 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Almost four years since the signing of the global political agreement (GPA) that brought Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) into a lopsided power-sharing arrangement with Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, the country is once again heading towards elections, now expected within a year.
The GPA has achieved some stability, enabling modest progress on reform, but an array of problems remain. Spoiler behaviour, especially by Zanu-PF, has not been adequately dealt with, although the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), as co-guarantor with the African Union of the political agreement, has consistently rejected Zanu-PF efforts to fast-track elections without reforms.
The EU will soon announce whether it renews or lifts its ban on direct development assistance to the Zimbabwean government, as well as asset and visa restrictions. In place for a decade, these sanctions have not achieved their objectives. Instead, they have been used as a propaganda stick against the EU, which Robert Mugabe and his supporters accuse of promoting regime change and undermining the economy. Such allegations have successfully diverted attention from the governance and human rights violations that brought about these measures in the first place.
(Excerpt) Read more at thezimbabwean.co.uk ...
Hey, I thought I was havin’ an acid flash...
EU to ease restrictions on aid to Zimbabwe
Saturday, 21 July 2012 12:19
http://www.brecorder.com/world/europe/69213-eu-to-ease-restrictions-on-aid-to-zimbabwe.html
ACK.... the brits give such a headache. ‘the jolly wankers, did the colonials a bad bit of discomfort in their bums in the recent decades. I’ll say they plum wore themselves oot and need some more free grain. Then they can make a proper try!
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