HARARE -- Zimbabwe 's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party on Thursday said President Robert Mugabe had thrown away an opportunity for a dignified exit out of his worst ever political and economic crisis when he rejected African Union (AU) mediation.
On Wednesday, former Mozambican leader Joaquim Chissano, who was appointed by the AU to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis, gave up on his mission saying he had been told by Mugabe on the sidelines of the just-ended Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Botswana that his help was not needed because the Harare administration would engage the opposition in Parliament.
MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said that the continental body should now stop shielding the veteran Zimbabwean leader from punitive measures by the international community to force him to implement democratic reforms.
Most western powers, who are critical of Mugabe's rule, have accused African countries of siding with the Zimbabwean leader despite charges of rights abuses and rampant vote rigging.
"What the AU was doing was to provide Mugabe with a dignified way out of the crisis he is facing but he has thrown it back in their face," Ncube told ZimOnline. "What the AU now needs to do is to tell Mugabe that you are on your own."
Ncube said a crumbling economy, marked by surging annual inflation, which rose to 254.8 percent in July from 164.3 the previous month, unemployment and widespread shortages would eventually force Mugabe to engage the opposition.
But he insisted the MDC would not beg for talks with Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party and that if negotiations eventually took place, they would be without any preconditions.
Mugabe has in recent weeks become increasingly defiant, vowing never to engage the MDC, which he labels a puppet of former colonial power Britain .
SADC has stuck by Mugabe despite murmurings from mostly Botswana and South Africa , the latter which has crafted a US$500 million financial bail out for its embattled northern neighbour.
"Mugabe will not extricate himself out of the crisis if he does not talk to his very own people whom he purports to govern. He has to make peace with all the people of Zimbabwe ," said Ncube.
Mugabe's ZANU PF party defeated the opposition in the March 31 parliamentary election, and effectively assumed absolute control of Parliament enabling his party to unilaterally amend Zimbabwe's constitution. But the MDC charges that the March ballot, including those held in 2000 and 2002, was massively rigged.
And yesterday Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa tabled a controversial Bill to amend the country's independence constitution amid criticism from the MDC.
The Bill, expected to sail through Parliament, seeks to bar individuals from contesting the seizure of their land except on matters of compensation, pave way for the setting up of a Senate and a single electoral commission.
It also seeks to empower authorities to prevent Zimbabweans suspected of engaging in terrorist activities outside from leaving the country.
A handful of MDC legislators yesterday launched a token protest march against the amendments saying this was the start of many more protests to come.
Ncube however said the proposed constitutional changes, which are seen entrenching Mugabe's 25-year rule especially through more party supporters in the Senate, would court hostility against Mugabe from the restive Zimbabwean populace.
"Mugabe can change or write as many constitutions as he wants but it is not going to resolve the crisis. He can pontificate as much as he likes but we will not accept to be dictated to," he said.