AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard yesterday branded President Robert Mugabe an "unelected despot", and said Zimbabwe should not be re-admitted to the Commonwealth. Zimbabwe was kicked out of all decision-making councils of the group that comprises Britain and mainly its former colonies after Mugabe’s regime was accused of intimidation and vote-rigging in the March 2002 presidential elections. Speaking on the sidelines of a Pacific leaders’ meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, Howard said unless Zimbabwe moves back towards democratic rule, it "should definitely remain suspended".
"There’s no sign that Zimbabwe’s position is altering," he added. "Zimbabwe as a nation continues to suffer the ruin of a country that has been in the hands of an unelected despot."
| On the other hand, he's certainly transformed the country... |
Howard also said Mugabe should be barred from the next Commonwealth meeting, scheduled for December in Nigeria’s capital Abuja. "I don’t think it would be helpful for the Commonwealth if Mr Mugabe were to come to Abuja," he said.
However, South African President Thabo Mbeki’s spokesman Bheki Khumalo told the Daily News yesterday that Zimbabwe’s re-admission into the Commonwealth would be decided by consensus at a summit of the group in Abuja in December this year. Khumalo said by phone from Pretoria: "One country cannot determine the fate of Zimbabwe. The issue of Zimbabwe’s re-admission will be determined by consensus at the Commonwealth summit in Nigeria."
| "Those of us who have nothing against bloody-handed dictators will probably allow them back in. Saying anything against them sets a bad precedent, y'know?" |
Signalling widening rifts within the three-member special committee comprising South Africa, Nigeria and Australia that suspended Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth last year, Khumalo criticised Howard saying the Australian leader’s stance would not help resolve the Zimbabwe issue. |