Parties set conditions for indaba with Mnangagwa




Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's president, center, arrives for a meeting of the Zimbabwe Business Club in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. Mnangagwa shows no bitterness toward Robert Mugabe, who he served as a right-hand man through the liberation war against Rhodesia and since independence in 1980, and still calls an “icon.” Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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HARARE – Leaders of political parties have set pre-conditions for their attendance at the all political parties indaba which has been proposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa ahead of the harmonised elections.

Addressing church leaders on Monday, President Mngangwa reiterated that he is going to convene an all political parties meeting with his counterparts, a message he has expressed during several other platforms.

Opposition political parties however say their attendance at the indaba will be determined by a number of factors chief among them that the President invites them in his capacity as the leader of the ruling party not as the president of the country.

Coalition of Democrats Zimbabwe (CODE) President, Elton Mangoma said they should all be on equal footing with President Mnangagwa attending the indaba only as the President of Zanu PF.

Gift Nyandoro, who is the spokesperson for the National People Party led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru, said his party will only attend if invited and only after seeing the agenda of the meeting.

MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa is however singing a different tune, claiming that his party needs a special invitation as it commands significant support and cannot be grouped The pre-conditions aired by these three political institutions cast a dark shadow to the holding of the indaba which would provide an ideal platform for dialogue key in holding a credible, free, fair, violence free and peaceful election that President Mnangagwa has promised.

The President has already set the tone for the dialogue by recognising the leaders of these parties as his counterparts. – ZBC