Southern Africa Development Community Summit Ends In Failure
By MISNA
The summit of 15 heads of state from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) held for two days in the Angolan capital of Luanda ended without any agreement or solution, reports MISNA, adding that in its final document, the SADC leaders recognized the difficulties in finding a solution to release the tensions and to start negotiations in Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
For Zimbabwe, SADC reaffirmed the decisions already taken in a previous fruitless summit held last June in South Africa, which “ensures the prompt implementation of the comprehensive political agreement to create an atmosphere conducive to free and fair elections.”
SADC leaders once again asked to Mugabe and Tsvangirai to set a road map leading to elections, reported MISNA.
As for Madagascar, MISNA reported that SADC leaders confirmed the document in Johannesburg for a return to constitutional order, the permanence in power of Andry Rajoelina responsible for organizing the general elections in which he would be granted the opportunity to run and granting former president Ravalomanana the right to return.
The president of Madagascar, Rajoelina, repeated his decision to deny Ravalomanana the right of return from exile (in South Africa) until the security conditions are “favorable.” The Rajoelina government accuses the president of being, allegedly, involved in the killing of political protesters targeted by Ravalomanana’s guards in front of the presidential palace in February 2009.
The Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, current rotating President of SADC, acknowledged that “the efforts of regional mediators to resolve the standoff between the various protagonists are still ‘stuck’. Nevertheless, “the summit has reaffirmed its commitment to support the mediation process in Madagascar.”
After the 2009 coup, Madagascar was suspended from the SADC, African Union and aid were interrupted by the European Union
