Political negotiations in Zimbabwe will continue to be held
under the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) and former South African president
Mr Thabo Mbeki has not indicated that talks be held outside this platform,
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.
This comes as the latest edition of the POLAD dialogue will
be held at President Mnangagwa’s Sherwood Farm in Kwekwe today, following a
request by negotiators under the forum.
Mr Mbeki visited Zimbabwe last week and met President
Mnangagwa, POLAD actors and MDC Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa.
Following Mr Mbeki’s visit, there has been widespread
speculation that the former South Africa president, who led negotiations for
Zimbabwe’s Government of National Unity in 2009, will bring President Mnangagwa
and Mr Chamisa to the negotiating table under a new platform.
Speaking to journalists after delivering his Unity Day
message at State House yesterday, President Mnangagwa said Mr Mbeki had not
advocated talks outside POLAD.
The President once again invited Mr Chamisa to be part of
the POLAD dialogue.
“He (Mr Mbeki) never pushed for talks when he met me. We
are very old friends, indeed he discussed the political situation in the
country and I explained to him that with regard to dialogue, we have a platform
where every political party freely can come into that platform including MDC
under Chamisa.”
Asked if there was a chance of meeting Chamisa under any
other platform, the President responded: “That (POLAD) is the only platform
where political dialogue will take place.”
In an interview yesterday, Deputy Chief Secretary in the
President’s Office, Mr George Charamba, said the decision to take political
dialogue to the Sherwood was made after the POLAD negotiators nominated the
venue.
Further, it was agreed that a tour of the farm encourages
productivity among all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation.
Said Mr Charamba: “It was a request made by POLAD members.
The programme is very simple, a couple of hours of business and then another
couple of hours touring the farm. So it is almost like a farmers’ field day
after the serious business of talks.
“It does clinch the notion of productivity which has been
the President’s watchword that we should work, work and work for our economy to
grow.”
POLAD was launched in May this year and is convened by the
National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by retired Justice Selo
Nare.
Dialogue under POLAD is a culmination of an engagement
process that was initiated by President Mnangagwa when he invited, for
dialogue, leaders of the 23 parties that took part in last year’s elections.
The process is meant to foster unity and enhance nation
building.
In negotiations that have been held so far, the parties
have agreed that there should be no pre-conditions for dialogue and that there
should be no sacred issues during the discussions.
Previous meetings have agreed that both political and
economic reforms should be implemented while politically motivated violence
should be shunned.
During his visit, Mr Mbeki expressed confidence in
Zimbabwe’s capacity to resolve its challenges and reiterated his support for
broad-based processes aimed at addressing issues of concern. Sunday Mail
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