FOREIGN MINISTERS of the Commonwealth have rejected a move sponsored by Britain to suspend Zimbabwe from the organisation for political upheaval amid signs of creeping dictatorship.
The eight-member Ministerial Action Group after a meeting on Wednesday opted instead to seek to deploy observers for the Zimbabwe Presidential Election scheduled for March 9-10.
But even as the Foreign Ministers were formulating strategy to deal with the Zimbabwe crisis journalists were staging protests outside the parliament in the capital, Harare, against legislation imposing severe restrictions against the press.
President Robert Mugabe is seen as staging a desperate bid to extend his 22-year hold on power with tactics which have elicited strong international condemnation.
The bid to suspend his country from the Commonwealth was spearheaded by Britain and supported by Australia and Barbados. The five other members of the eight-member Ministerial Action Group voted against suspension, a decision defended by Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon.
The Secretary-General argues sensibly that isolating Zimbabwe would be counter-productive in the sense that there would be no election observers and fewer levers of influence on Mugabe's policies.
As reported elsewhere in this issue Jamaica supports the decision of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers not to suspend Zimbabwe. We would hope that this stance does not signify endorsement of Mugabe's assault on dissent and curbs against freedom of expression.
We expect that Jamaica will seek to exert positive and constructive influence on the Zimbabwe situation when the Commonwealth Heads meet in Queensland, Australia, from March 2 to 5.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
