The summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which opened Monday will stress the importance of holding free and democratic elections in all 13 of the blocs member states, officials said according to the World Bank press review Monday.
The SADCs incoming chairman, Mauritian Prime Minister Paul Berenger told the press in Port Louis that the adoption of a charter calling for free and democratic elections would be “one of the big items” on the summits agenda here. – The charter will be a way of unblocking the situation between the SADC on the one hand and the European Union and the United States on the other, he said.
The SADCs relations with the EU and the United States took a turn for the worse following the 2002 general and presidential elections in Zimbabwe, which international observers condemned as marred by irregularities.
SADC heads of state were also due to discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is slowly emerging from a five-year civil war that claimed some three million lives through fighting, disease and hunger.
The leaders were expected to address the massacre on Friday of some 160 people in a camp for Congolese Tutsi refugees in Burundi, which caused an outcry across the Great lakes region and drew harsh condemnation from across the world.
The organization was also due to address the issue of human rights and the progress of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), a plan that aims to further good governance and transparency in exchange for trade and investment.
The organization plans to select a joint candidate for the post of director of the World Trade Organization (WTO) – with Mauritian Foreign Minister Jayen Cuttaree tipped by some as a nominee. The body should select a joint representative to the World Health Organization (WHO), a post which Angola is believed to covet.
But still, southern African leaders are likely to offer their traditional public support for Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe at the summit, despite calls for his isolation. Delegates and political analysts said that although Zimbabwes problems may dominate talks outside the conference, the issue would not be formally discussed separately at the annual event.
– There are no plans to isolate Zimbabwes problems for special discussions because some people have a score to settle with the Zimbabwean leadership, a senior South African delegate said.
In a report obtained by South Africas Sunday Times, SADC foreign ministers said they opposed sanctions against Zimbabwe, but wanted the region to ensure the countrys parliamentary elections in 2005 were free and fair.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
