Contrary to reports in some sections of the media that the MDC party is desperately pushing for a political dialogue, the MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa has refuted the claims, stressing that his party has been approached to dialogue by former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
This came out in an interview with South African television channel eNCA, yesterday.
“We are not the ones initiating (dialogue process), we have been invited, we have been advised and we have said we are available for any opportunity,”
“We were invited by President Mbeki to hear our side of the story and our side of the story has been very articulated on what we believe is the solution to the legitimacy crisis” said Chamisa.
Chamisa said there are signs that there will be more meetings after having met Mbeki last year.
“There has been an indication of further meetings, we still wait for Mr. Mnangagwa because he is the one who requested for some more time. He needs to consult, he also needs to consider the proposal that we have given,” he said.
Chamisa who is currently in South Africa to meet the country’s political leadership which include President Cyril Ramaphosa, said his visit was also premised on the high number of Zimbabweans living there.
“We believe South Africa is so critical in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis, the 4 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora mainly in South Africa, it is not on account of their own but it is because of circumstances politically and economically” he said.
Chamisa said the prospects of a dialogue are showing though there are dynamics at play within Zanu PF.
“There are signals of goodwill, signals of positive direction and we remain cautiously optimistic. We also have to understand other contextual issues to be considered particularly the dynamics and contradictions within Zanu PF which would also play out in a powerful way, so we are watching them. They are at each other’s throat, we would want to make sure that their instability does not spill over to cause instability in the country,” added Chamisa.
But President Emmerson Mnangagwa believes the opposition’s claims of being open for dialogue are not in good faith pointing to Chamisa’s snubbing of the POLAD initiative, a platform for dialogue with smaller opposition parties alleged to be sympathetic with Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe is facing a political gridlock between the ruling administration and the main opposition formation, MDC over a contested election result of 2018.
The stalemate has also taken a huge toll on the economy which is facing its worst crisis in a decade.
