Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU PF has accused Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa of siding with the opposition in its bid to oust President Robert Mugabe, in yet another sign of worsening relations between the two countries.

The ruling party, which is gearing up for a bruising presidential election run-off between Mr Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, said it was disappointed with Mr Mwanawasa because he had failed to call for the lifting of sanctions imposed by Western countries.

It said that, as the chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Mr Mwanawasa had been tasked to ask the United States and Britain to scrap the “illegal” sanctions.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mr Patrick Chinamasa, who chairs ZANU PF’s media sub-committee, said the sanctions had contributed to Mr Mugabe’s embarrassing defeat in the first round of the elections.

“SADC undertook to call for the lifting of the illegal sanctions but Mr Mwanawasa, as the chairperson, has not done so yet,” he said.

“It is his obligation to implement the resolution issued at the extraordinary summit held in Tanzania last year to remove immediately all forms of the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe.

“We have not heard him calling for the lifting of the sanctions… we have been adversely affected by the sanctions, as they are creating an uneven playing field.”

Mr Chinamasa’s outbursts were the first direct attacks on Mr Mwanawasa by the government since signs of a breakdown in relations between the two countries started appearing early this year.

Relations between the two countries have been deteriorating since Zimbabwe accused Zambia of trying to block its maize imports in the run-up to the March elections.

The decision by Zambia to call an emergency SADC summit to address a political impasse occasioned by delays in releasing the Zimbabwean presidential election results invited an angry response from the authorities in Harare, who claimed the meeting was the brainchild of its enemies in the West.

Last week, Zambia deported hundreds of Zimbabwean traders operating from its resort town of Livingstone. Zimbabwean state media called for the deportation of Zambians in retaliation.

Mr Mwanawasa has been one of the most outspoken African leaders on the crisis in Zimbabwe, whose effects he fears could spill over in the region.

Botswana has also taken a cue from Zambia and has since banned the export of gasoline to the neighbouring country, dealing a major blow to an economy that has been in recession for close to 10 years.

Meanwhile, Mr Chinamasa says Zimbabwe will not invite international election observers for the presidential election run-off unless sanctions against the country are lifted.

The declaration, coming a few days after Mr Tsvangirai finally confirmed that he would participate in the run-off on condition that international observers were invited, is likely to lead to another political stalemate over the holding of the elections.

Zimbabwe barred Western countries from observing the first round of voting, saying they were biased against the ruling party but following the controversy surrounding the presidential election, pressure has been mounting for a United Nations-led observer mission to be allowed into the country. “We will not allow them (Western countries) because they are players.” Mr Chinamasa said.

The US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most members of the European Union (EU) have imposed travel bans and economic sanctions on Mr Mugabe’s inner circle for alleged human rights violations since 2002.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is yet to set a date for the run-off, which should have been held before the end of this month.

(Source)