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Chamisa warns Britain
09 May 2018 at 13:30hrs | Views
MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa yesterday complained that the British government was overlooking crucial democratic reforms in favour of managing political stability in Zimbabwe, warning this could lead to post-election instability.
Speaking at Chatham House in London yesterday, Chamisa expressed concern over what he said was the inclination of the British government in Zimbabwe "to align with one political party against another."
"We have seen that there has been a bit of a shift on the part of the British government in terms of focusing more on political stability and trade and commerce at the expense of democracy.
"But that is a false narrative, you can never have stability without democracy," he said.
"We expect Britain and the EU to speak for free and fair elections. There's a very disturbing trend in the context of the British government in Zimbabwe.
"We're seeing the inclination to align with one political party against another.
"That is disturbing, particularly in terms of the issue of just setting the basic standard for free and fair elections.
"Because for a long time, the British government has been emphasising norms, values — let those norms and values of free and fair elections be respected.
"That is all we want — we're not asking for money. We're asking for the solidarity of a global coalition for free and fair elections," he added.
PDP president and MDC Alliance partner, Tendai Biti, who is travelling with Chamisa, called out the current British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Catriona Laing, in 2016, accusing her of supporting the then-vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa's presidential ambitions.
"(They) are arguing that Zimbabwe needs a strongman. By that they mean a man called ... Mnangagwa, who suddenly is a reformer," Biti charged at the time.
Chamisa warned that this focus on the maintenance of stability with a strongman in power at the expense of thoroughgoing democratisation could in fact set the country up for post-election instability.
"This is our view, and we hope that it will be appreciated," said Chamisa, who is meeting senior UK government officials, including foreign secretary Boris Johnson and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during his visit to London.
Speaking at Chatham House in London yesterday, Chamisa expressed concern over what he said was the inclination of the British government in Zimbabwe "to align with one political party against another."
"We have seen that there has been a bit of a shift on the part of the British government in terms of focusing more on political stability and trade and commerce at the expense of democracy.
"But that is a false narrative, you can never have stability without democracy," he said.
"We expect Britain and the EU to speak for free and fair elections. There's a very disturbing trend in the context of the British government in Zimbabwe.
"We're seeing the inclination to align with one political party against another.
"That is disturbing, particularly in terms of the issue of just setting the basic standard for free and fair elections.
"Because for a long time, the British government has been emphasising norms, values — let those norms and values of free and fair elections be respected.
"That is all we want — we're not asking for money. We're asking for the solidarity of a global coalition for free and fair elections," he added.
PDP president and MDC Alliance partner, Tendai Biti, who is travelling with Chamisa, called out the current British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Catriona Laing, in 2016, accusing her of supporting the then-vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa's presidential ambitions.
"(They) are arguing that Zimbabwe needs a strongman. By that they mean a man called ... Mnangagwa, who suddenly is a reformer," Biti charged at the time.
Chamisa warned that this focus on the maintenance of stability with a strongman in power at the expense of thoroughgoing democratisation could in fact set the country up for post-election instability.
"This is our view, and we hope that it will be appreciated," said Chamisa, who is meeting senior UK government officials, including foreign secretary Boris Johnson and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during his visit to London.
Source - dailynews
