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Zimbabwe turmoil was an unexpected...
2008-07-25 10:12:44
By Bilal Abdul-Aziz, Dodoma
The Zimbabwe political turmoil was ``unexpected`` disappointment that Tanzania and other African Union (AU) countries did not anticipate from a vibrant democracy and a nation that observes the rule of law, the National Assembly was told yesterday.
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation deputy minister Seif Ali Iddi made the statement when responding to a supplementary question posed by Chambani lawmaker, Salim Hemed Khamis.
Khamis had wanted to know why it normally takes so long for the AU and other regional bodies to intervene on emerging conflicts and why Tanzania and the AU entertained a power-sharing government arrangement in Kenya and Zimbabwe , knowing barely that seating presidents on those two countries didn't actually win the elections.
``I disagree…they don`t wait for the crisis to happen for them to intervene. But, we normally don't anticipate political crisis in democratic countries governed by the rule of law,`` said Iddi.
He explained that the fact that the AU and other regional bodies had concluded Zimbabwe elections, especially the run-off, were not free and fair, they didn`t recognise the declared winner, Robert Mugabe, as legitimate president of the central African state.
``We are all witnesses on this…no member country of the AU or other bodies in the area has so far recognised Mugabe,`` said the deputy minister.
Answering the basic question also posed by Khamis earlier, Iddi outlined underlying reasons that fueled crisis in many African countries, including disputes on boundaries, ethnicity and fighting for natural resources-minerals, oil, water and forests.
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