Subjects: Zimbabwe
E&OE...........
PRIME MINISTER QARASE:
Ladies and gentlemen and members of the media, during the luncheon break today the forum leaders from the Commonwealth member countries consulted on the very serious situation in Zimbabwe and decided to issue a statement about it. As most of you know the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, is leader of a three-man team to be the link with Zimbabwe to assist that country in dealing with its challenges. And I would now like read to you the text of our statement on Zimbabwe.
Statement by the Pacific/Commonwealth Leaders on Zimbabwe. Pacific Commonwealth leaders assembled in Suva, Fiji Islands, for the Pacific Islands Forum. They expressed deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. They regretted the fact that the Government of President Mugabe has failed to respond to calls of the international community to promote national reconciliation and the rule of law. They recalled that the Commonwealth had suspended Zimbabwe from its councils in March 2002 following the report of the Commonwealth Observer Group on the flawed presidential elections in that country. Pacific Commonwealth leaders endorsed the continuing efforts of the troika of Commonwealth leaders to seek to engage in constructive dialogue with the Government of Zimbabwe and regretted that Zimbabwe had made little response to date. They recommended further action by the Commonwealth should there be no rapid change of approach by the Zimbabwe Government. Leaders urged that the rule of law be restored in Zimbabwe, that the dialogue between the political parties be resumed with agreement to promote national reconciliation and that political violence be bought to end forthwith. They recognise the political need for land reform in Zimbabwe, but at the same time they called for an end to the forced eviction of farmers and urged that land resettlement be carried out in accordance with the plan put forward by the United Nations Development Programme.
Thank you.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, when will you be speaking to the other leaders of South Africa and Nigeria?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I';m in fairly regularly contact with them. I don';t want to put a precise time on that, but I am in quite regular contact with them. I have had a number of discussions with them since our meeting in London in March and you should see our role, particularly mine as Chairman in Office, as being in continuation.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible) seem to say very much, what do you have in mind?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
That question? Who are you addressing that to? To any of us?
JOURNALIST:
Well any of you.
PRIME MINISTER QARASE:
As I mentioned that there is a troika of Commonwealth Leaders who have been tasked with the this problem to try and assist in finding solutions. So further actions will be dependent on what that team considers, and recommends as we move along.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have anything in mind yourself on what you would like to see happening in Zimbabwe?
PRIME MINISTER QARASE:
Well Fiji had been in a similar situation as Zimbabwe. I believe that the Commonwealth should be applying the same rules for everybody in that kind of situation. From my point of view I would certainly like the same actions to be taken against any member of the Commonwealth that falls into the sort of situation that Fiji was in a few years ago.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister (inaudible)? The Commonwealth jumped on Fiji because it';s a small country, easy to kick around. Can they do the same with Zimbabwe or is Zimbabwe too tough for them?
PRIME MINISTER CLARK:
I don';t think that was the reason the Commonwealth jumped on Fiji. Fiji had difficulties in a constitutional sense and I think the Commonwealth played a constructive role in bringing us to where we are today on a positive constitutional track. But the issue that the Fijian Prime Minister';s highlighted is that if Fiji is treated in that way when it departs from the rule of law and the constitution then it';s only fair that the rules be applied evenly to everybody. And that hasn';t been the case with Zimbabwe. So I think the purpose of this statement is to support the head of the troika, Mr Howard, for the regional leaders of the Commonwealth here to back him in his continuing discussions, and really to say that the situation in Zimbabwe is more intolerable than it was in March and if there cannot be some engagement by Mr Mugabe in the process that Mr Howard and the other two leaders set out, then the Commonwealth needs to address the issue again.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, are you indicating it';s not going to be easy to convince the leaders of South Africa and Nigeria to expel Zimbabwe?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I';m not offering a view on that. Self-evidently Zimbabwe has not responded and I would associate myself with what both of the other Prime Ministers have said. To use the venacular, the rule book was thrown at Fiji, there';s no reason why other countries should be treated more sparingly in a situation like this than Fiji was treated. And I can understand the feelings of Pacific countries and the Fijian Government in particular. And the countries gathered here compromise one-fifth of the membership of the Commonwealth so this is no small expression of Commonwealth opinion. Now the situation is in continuation as far as the troika is concerned. I can';t say more than that at the moment. But it';s not something that we can responsibility let drift indefinitely but obviously there are limits to what can be done within the Councils of the Commonwealth. The internal situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating by the day, and President Mugabe has been utterly unresponsive to the approaches of the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and quite indifferent to world opinion. In those circumstances it';s hardly surprising that the 11 Commonwealth countries gathered here should express the views they have. I thank them for that. It';s quite a valuable expression of support and it';s broadly based. You have relatively large Commonwealth countries here, we have some very very small ones, and I welcome very much their expression of considerable support to me and I';m sure those views are echoed by the New Zealand Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST:
And do you think that';s reflective of the wider Commonwealth? There';s a one-fifth of the Commonwealth here….
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I think there would be some countries in Africa that would be less sympathetic to the point of view put here but even many of them would agree with it. You must understand that our action in suspending Zimbabwe was based upon the virtually unanimous findings of the Commonwealth Observer Group about the improper way in which the election was carried out and that included many African countries, that included the representatives of many African countries that have been long standing allies and friends and neighbours of Zimbabwe. So it wasn';t a report compiled in London or Ottawa or Wellington or Canberra or indeed in Suva. It was also compiled out of the capitals of many of the African countries.
JOURNALIST:
Given what happened to Fiji, the various practical measures that were imposed on Fiji, what do you see or what do you believe the Commonwealth should now impose on Zimbabwe that hasn';t currently been imposed on Zimbabwe? In other words what was the punishment that Fiji got will you now attempt to be meted out on Zimbabwe?
PRIME MINISTER QARASE:
Well in the case of Fiji there was a process followed by the Commonwealth office. I think the same process is being followed in the case of Zimbabwe. We had a ministerial group that visited Fiji a number of times but that was followed by the appointment of a special envoy to assist us and he facilitated the dialogue between the different interest groups within the country. That was most useful really, and of course it was followed by some restrictions on trade by some Commonwealth countries. I think in the case of Zimbabwe it is proceeding along that line as well and I';m sure that we';ll get there if there is no change.
PRIME MINISTER CLARK:
Can I say it';s important to note that Fiji cooperated fully with the Commonwealth in this process. That hasn';t been the case with Zimbabwe. Prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as I recall Zimbabwe had refused to receive a delegation from the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. It';s also a matter of record that Mr Mugabe will not respond to Mr McKinnon';s calls so there';s a completely different reaction. Fiji saw the opportunity to be assisted by the Commonwealth to work back to the constitutional process. Zimbabwe is simply not engaging either with the Secretary General, the Secretariat, or with Mr Howard and his group at this time.
JOURNALIST:
I just wondered if in the case of Fiji the action was fairly swift and as you say they cooperated, do you think that time has run out now for Zimbabwe?
PRIME MINISTER CLARK:
Personally yes I do. I think that Mr Howard and the two leaders endeavoured to set up a process of engagement but it';s difficult to carry that process further when the object of the engagement won';t engage and when it';s at the level of refusing to respond to the Secretary General it really is a very very serious breakdown of a relationship with a Commonwealth member. But as I';ve said in New Zealand in recent days we';re dealing with a multi-level crisis in Zimbabwe. We';re dealing with the crisis of the forced eviction of the farmers. Often that goes with the forced eviction of the farm labourers. We have a dire economic crisis, and then we have all of that compounded by the drought which sees six million Zimbabweans facing very very serious hunger problems. The drought is more serious in Zimbabwe because there is a dysfunction of administration with policies that are not conducive to feeding its people. So the crises is coming to a head and I think this statement at this time is helpful to Mr Howard and his endeavours.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister Howard, in view of your remarks about Mr Mugabe';s attitude, would you say that he';s entirely sane?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
What';s the next question.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, will you now, in the light of the statement from the Commonwealth leaders at the Forum, be recommending to the troika that expulsion be the next step taken?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I don';t want to say anything more at the moment about what I';m putting to the troika accept to repeat the comment I made to Gillian Bradford that our responsibility is in continuum. I don';t want to say any more than that at the present time.
JOURNALIST:
When do you expect to make a decision?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
I make decisions all the time on this.
JOURNALIST:
This particular decision, [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well it';s in continuum.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Howard, if Zimbabwe continues to refuse to cooperate with the Commonwealth can it be expected that they';ll be struck off from the organisation?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well the remit of the troika was to act in the light of the recommendation of the…findings rather, findings of the Commonwealth Observer Group. That was our remit from the Coolum meeting. The question of more drastic action would be a matter for the Commonwealth as a whole. But let me just repeat what I said earlier, the situation has clearly drifted very badly. Zimbabwe has been very unresponsive. If you compare Zimbabwe';s response to Fiji';s, even indeed the response of the government of Pakistan which was likewise suspended from the Commonwealth. Pakistan is engaging. You might also note that Pakistan has played a very important role in the fight against terrorism as well which has certainly my very significant respect and the respect of many. So you contrast the behaviour of Fiji and Pakistan with the behaviour of Zimbabwe and the contrast is very stark. Now there';s a limit to how many times I can say that, and how many times any of us can say that. We';re not happy with the situation. We';ve said so. We welcome very warmly the fact that the 11 Commonwealth countries have made this statement. I see my role along with that of Obasanjo and President Mbeki as being, as I say, in continuum. There are a number of considerations around at present. I don';t propose to say any more than that but we';re engaged. I find the situation completely unsatisfactory and obviously it could have significant consequences as far as the relationship between Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth is concerned. But that is a matter for individual Commonwealth countries to decide upon and I don';t think I can frankly say any more at this stage.
JOURNALIST:
We have problems within our own region but you seem to reserve the strongest….
PRIME MINISTER CLARK:
We haven';t got the whole communique yet. This is simply dealing with a Commonwealth matter.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
This is just Zimbabwe.
PRIME MINISTER CLARK:
And the Prime Minister will comment on the other matters later.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
The Prime Minister of Fiji will handle everything else.
JOURNALIST:
Early last week Ms Clark you were speaking of suspension as being more constructive than expulsion. Is expulsion now an option on the table?
PRIME MINISTER CLARK:
Well there are a continuum of measures. Mr Howard';s group took one measure –suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth. If Zimbabwe continue to refuse to engage in any way to get back to a constitutional track I';m sure the Commonwealth will want to look at the next step which is suspension at some point. There is a step beyond that and that is expulsion. But at the moment we';re in a stage where suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth hasn';t brought forth a positive response then Mr Howard needs to consult with his group about how they feel about that before making recommendations back to the Commonwealth.
[ends]