The Democratic Alliance (DA) urges President Mbeki to call upon Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to immediately release one of the MDC's key representatives, Arthur Mutambara, who was arrested during the weekend for criticizing the Zimbabwean government. In light of existing electoral regulations, President Mbeki must also require of Mugabe that he assure the SADC that his government will give the opposition uninhibited access to campaigning without intimidation from ZANU-PF, the military and other organs of state.

Arthur Mutambara's arrest is evidence that Mugabe is bent on extending his stay in power at all cost. Not only is his arrest a repression of freedom of speech and political activity, but an orchestrated ploy by the Mugabe regime to destabilize the MDC's campaign for the run-off election. If President Mbeki does not intervene on Mutambara's arrest, it will underscore the MDC's allegation that he is biased towards ZANU-PF.

Free campaigning and freedom of speech are essential preconditions for any free and fair election, and without them, the run-off election is likely to be as flawed as all previous Zimbabwean elections.

The run-off election is the only remaining hope of resolving Zimbabwe's political impasse. A failure to secure a political climate that is conducive to a free and fair run-off election is equivalent to embracing a rigged election. President Mbeki must therefore urgently display firm resolve in this matter, and ensure that the run off election is free and fair. If he does not, it will lend further weight to the argument - now coming out of Zimbabwe itself - that he is no longer a credible mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis.

Statement issued by Tony Leon MP, DA spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, June 2 2008