OPPOSITION MDC leader Nelson Chamisa (pictured) yesterday snubbed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s national dialogue meeting at State House, saying the process was a flawed public relations stunt meant to appease the international community, instead of resolving the political and economic crisis in the country.
Mnangagwa, who won a disputed presidential poll in July last year, invited all 23 politicians who contested the presidential election to a meeting yesterday to draw up terms for a national dialogue, but Chamisa, who leads the main opposition party in the country, said the call was meant to hoodwink the international community following a brutal crackdown on protesters by security forces which killed 17 and left hundreds nursing injuries, including gunshot wounds.
Chamisa maintains that he won the July 31 election and calls Mnangagwa illegitimate.
He told NewsDay that he was still open to dialogue if his opponent showed a “genuine desire” to end the political and economic crisis.
“The real dialogue that we are supposed to have as a nation has not started, not these games. We have a political crisis arising out of a disputed and rigged presidential election result in Zimbabwe. The presidency is disputed. We need genuine dialogue under a credible convener and mediator to solve this crisis. Stop citizen abuses, beatings and arrests,” he said.
The opposition leader said Mnangagwa was treating him like a toddler.
“Mr Mnangagwa and his colleagues are making a mistake of thinking that he is talking to just a 41-year-old. When he is engaging me, he is talking to 2,6 million voices. So, in my voice, there are 2,6 million voices of Zimbabweans and he should not expect to meet with them because they will not, they have sent me,” he said.
“Mr Mnangagwa is party to this dispute. He, therefore, cannot chair a meeting where the complaints are against him.”
