Zimbabwean opposition leaders finally decide to leave the "bitterness" behind

By Mishkah Anthony
22 July 2008

President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have vowed to draw a line under Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

They signed a joint agreement on a framework for talks, facilitated by President Thabo Mbeki. The South African President said the memorandum of understanding was agreed unanimously without reservations by anybody.

Mugabe called for a new way of political interaction while Tsvangirai added that it was time to put the “bitterness” behind them. The two sides have set themselves a two- week timeframe to wrap up the talks which are expected to take place in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“We’ve been very pleased on the seriousness in which the process has been approached over many months, failure is actually not an option.”, Mbeki says after the signing of the memorandum.

Mbeki added, that has been the attitude adopted by everybody and therefore everybody has approached this negotiations really focused on the matter of finding solutions and addressing the needs, concerns and aspirations of the people.