Sources last week said the meeting which was supposed to be held a fortnight ago, was proposed by Mugabe and agreed to by Tsvangirai, but had to be postponed indefinitely as the parties are continuously locked up in other business.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo confirmed the pending meeting.
“That meeting is being coordinated by the secretary for administration Cde (Didymus) Mutasa,” said Gumbo.
“All I can do is confirm that there is indeed a proposal to have a meeting between the politburos of the parties.”
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MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora also confirmed the meeting, and like his Zanu PF counterpart, added that they were yet to be advised on the new date.
Violence continues to rock Harare’s high- density suburbs, especially Mbare, where Zanu PF militia, known as Chipangano, wantonly terrorise residents and vendors dispossessing them of market stands.
Gumbo said Zanu PF insists that some of the violence happening in the country is being perpetrated by MDC-T despite the media’s coverage which gives the impression that his party was the culprit.
“We hope to address various issues of violence, including causes and how best we can improve the political situation in the country,” Gumbo said. “Our position as a party is that we want stability, peace and a conducive environment for campaigning, which will lead to free and fair elections.”
Mwonzora however, said the proposed meeting is just a clumsy public relations stunt which may not do much in ending violence.
“If Mugabe hopes to find ways of eradicating violence through his proposed meeting with the two parties’ highest decision-making bodies then he is addressing the wrong people,” Mwonzora said.
“Our view is that the solution lies in President Mugabe telling the police and some members of the army to stop harassing people.”
Mwonzora said politicians may spend a lot of time in discussions but this would not yield anything as long as the police and the army were not roped into the discussions.
He said the violence that took place just after Mugabe’s speech at the opening of Parliament showed that the perpetrators of violence have gone out of hand, as they can even disobey Mugabe.
What is disheartening, Mwonzora said, is that no arrests have been made to date. But Gumbo said the police and the army were independent government institutions which discharge their duties according to their professional dictates.
“MDC is part of government so if they want these institutions to be addressed, they should raise that at cabinet level,” he said.
“Zanu PF cannot tell the police what to do, they are not our institution.”
