Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-05-Speech-4-140"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020905.10.4-140"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, what is happening in Zimbabwe is quite simply an unparalleled tragedy. In his speech in Johannesburg, Mr Mugabe made the unspeakable assertion that these events, which are totally contrary to constitutional law, are even contributing to sustainable development. That really takes the biscuit! It would be hard to top that comment for audacity. It would be good if there were some louder voices in black Africa exposing this for what it really is: a power struggle on the part of a man who has failed in the course of 20 years to push forward a process of land reform that could have been carried out constitutionally. He only took action on this when his personal position was threatened, and only resorted to these tactics when his hold on power was at risk. We must never forget that this action is only partly directed again white farmers. It is above all aimed at Zimbabwe's opposition, which managed, despite enormous repression in the parliamentary elections, to achieve a very remarkable result, and which of course has a great deal of backing amongst the public. That is the real background to this.
I would like to quote some comments from the South African newspaper the
because it is one of the voices in a country which is, after all, our ally, which is important. It has criticised the way the Mugabe Government has carried out land reform as brutal, and as a means of bringing production to a standstill, which is futile. This paper has pointed out that Mr Mugabe is attempting to propagate a myth when he says he has the backing of all Zimbabweans. We know after all that there is a strong opposition and that it is not therefore legitimate, and I am quoting now, to talk about 'my Zimbabweans and my Zimbabwe', while ignoring his many opponents, and that Mr Mugabe is creating a false impression when he alleges that Zimbabwe is, as it were, his property. But as far as I understand he is in the process of selling off that property to his own family, so that the occupation of land is being misused to bestow gifts on his family members.
As I have already said, the European Union should be willing to support a legal and constitutional process of land reform, but it should not support such machinations. We have to say that very clearly to our partner countries."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"Daily Newspaper"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples