Chamisa told to put national interest first

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has called on Zimbabwe's political opposition to place the national interest at the centre of its philosophy and actions.

The President said this as he delivered a guest lecture at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in Russia on Wednesday, a well-received presentation that charted his administration's domestic and foreign policy.

President Mnangagwa - who was in Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin - is the first African leader to present a guest lecture at the institution that is famed for contributing immensely to Russia's social, political and economic policies over the decades.

The rector, Dr Anatoly Torkunov, capped President Mnangagwa as an "Honoured Guest of the Institute".

In his delivery, President Mnangagwa said: "While the issues of our elections and the political landscape in my country have been some of the contentious issues to those who have slapped illegal economic sanctions on us, we continue with political reforms, informed and motivated by that which is good for our people; never by the external pressure we may ever face.

"We, thus, continue to entrench constitutionalism and democratic values, always guided and informed — however — by our national ethos, national interest and liberation war heritage. Our democratic values are, therefore, embedded in our culture, and informed the waging of the liberation struggle.

"As we go forward, we remain vigilant and alert, continuously appealing to our opposition political players to embrace the same national interest as does the ruling party." He said his "relentless appeal" to all Zimbabweans was that unity, love and peace were essential nation-building blocks.

President Mnangagwa said his administration operated under the mantra "Zimbabwe is Open for Business", and this informed the foreign relations policy of engagement and re-engagement.

"Zimbabwe's Second Republic is engaged in economic diplomacy as she re-engages with those who had disengaged her. Meanwhile, we are robustly engaging more deeply with dependable friends who stood by us throughout the difficult years.

"We welcome all nations of goodwill. I invite those nations that have been at odds with us in the past to turn a new page in our relations. It is a new day, a new season," he said.

The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces thanked Russia for standing by the country "even in our darkest years of isolation, vilification and nefarious machinations by some Western countries".

"We shall be eternally grateful for the role played by the Russian Federation within the United Nations Security Council which, along with China, back in 2008 exercised its veto to foil manoeuvrings by some Western countries to have Zimbabwe slapped with the United Nations Chapter VII sanctions." He said Zimbabwe stood for "peace, development, co-operation and mutually respectful relations with others in the family of nations".

"In doing so, however, we will continue to vigilantly safeguard our sovereignty, national development interests," the President highlighted.

He said Harare supported multilateralism, and lent his weight to the lobby for a reforms of the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and the Bretton- Woods institutions so as to engender greater democracy in them and promote equitable, sustainable development.

He expressed confidence that the Transitional Stabilisation Programme would support incremental stabilisation of the macro-economic environment, reduce the budget deficit and the external debt and improve liquidity.

"Let me make the reassurance that foreign investment and capital are secure under the Second Republic. All Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements will be fully honoured by my Government," he continued.