The delegation said in Gaborone that opening Parliament, when talks between ZANU-PF and MDC are stalled, will not solve anything. "Everything right now depends on whether Morgan Tsvangirai is happy with the deal. It is better not to have a deal than a bad deal. The European Union supports Tsvangirai in this matter. Our understanding is that the MDC will attend the official opening only, and will boycott the rest," Phillip Mahieu, the political advisor in the French embassy in Gaborone said on Saturday. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Commission. "In my view, the facilitator of the talks (South African President, Thabo Mbeki) should step back, as he is now the chairman of SADC. He should delegate negotiations to a wider mandate. He cannot be the chairperson of SADC and the facilitator at the same time... that will be the logical thing to do. That is my point of view," Mahieu said.
Botswana Minister of Foreign Affairs, Phandu Skelemani, expressed misgivings about the opening of the Zimbabwean Parliament. "We are at a loss as to what good the Parliament will do to serve the people of Zimbabwe. We don't necessarily have problems with the Zimbabwean Parliament. It was properly elected. However, if it starts work, as a legislative body led by a president then we have a problem there, because their electoral process failed to produce a president. They do not have a president. I'm yet to read their constitution and understand it, but the opening of Parliament will also be followed by cabinet appointments, which is done by a president," Skelemani said.
