South African President Thabo Mbeki has resumed efforts to clear the political logjam between Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition over the related issues of the date of the next national elections and the adoption of a new constitution.
Sources in Pretoria said that if Mr. Mbeki fails to resolve the impasse he must refer the matter back to the Southern African Development Community which handed him his crisis mediation brief in March of last year.
Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, lead negotiator in the talks for the ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe, has recently reiterated that the government will not admit foreign election observers it considers to be biased.
Chinamasa alleged that some election observers "sow seeds of confusion, disunity and ultimately bloodshed.”
Spokesman Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai told reporter Blessing Zulu that the ruling party is backtracking on critical points agreed within the so-called SADC process.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...