The imposition of sanctions on a country like Zimbabwe in particular and anywhere in the world is a clear violation of moral and sovereignty issues, said Patriotic Zimbabweans (PZ) party on Tuesday at Media Centre in a press statement that sought to amplify the voices that are against the European Union, Canada, and the United States imposed travel and financial penalties on the Southern African country.
Secretary for international relations, Mr Pishai Muchauraya said it is PZ party’s contention that
Zimbabweans ought to enjoy their right to exercise self-determination and have the opportunity to solve their own internal problems without undue external influence.
“As a legally recognized and registered Zimbabwean political organization, we therefore ratify the Global Political Agreement (GPA) resolution on sanctions and call for their immediate removal by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union,” said Muchauraya.
“As a party, the historic 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) guides our position on the sanctions conundrum in Zimbabwe. The late President of Zimbabwe, Mr. R.G. Mugabe, the late Prime Minister, Dr. Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara bequeathed to us a formula that ironically has been vindicated in western nations that national interest supersedes narrow and partisan political party interests. We view the Global Political Agreement (GPA) as an historical benchmark, a political milestone, and an agreement whose ink has not yet dried,” said Muchauraya in the press statement.
In 2002 and 2003 respectively, the European Union and the United States imposed travel and financial sanctions on Zimbabwe while the Special Economic Measures (Zimbabwe) Regulations came into force in Canada in 2008. The United States enacted the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 while the European Union promulgated the Common Position 2002/145/CFSP and currently the latter administers sanctions under Council Regulation (EC) No 314/2004 (as amended) and Council Decision 2011/101/CFSP (as amended). The UK adopted The Zimbabwe (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 in January 2021.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Senator Douglas Mwonzora is another opposition party that has proclaimed their voice against the foreign measures and called for their lifting. There are however some political formations like the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa, who support the perpetuation of the restrictions which they think will exert pressure on the government to end human rights abuses, implement electoral reforms and restore the rule of law.
