News / National
Mnangagwa trashes MDC talks reports
01 Feb 2019 at 14:11hrs | Views
ZANU-PF leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa has poured cold water on calls for a negotiated political settlement with the opposition MDC, saying there is no basis for such talks.
Mnangagwa also accused MDC president Nelson Chamisa of lying about writing five letters to him.
He said the biggest impediment to the talks has been Chamisa's insistence that Mnangagwa should accept that he is an illegitimate head of state before the two main political parties, MDC and Zanu-PF, can open dialogue. Chamisa approached the Constitutional Court seeking to overturn the result which gave Mnangagwa a wafer-thin 50,6% win in the July 30, 2018 presidential elections, but the petition was thrown out for lack of merit.
The opposition leader has, however, maintained he won the election and wants Mnangagwa to relinquish power.
"I hear there are talks going on and this is only in the media. I even have had to ask our party officials whether they have been in talks with the MDC behind my back. They are also surprised. I have never refused to talk and that is why after I came into office, you have seen me talking to all the people, from students, industry, the church, political parties and even traditional leaders. We continue to talk for the good of our country and my door is open. I, however, do not understand how he (Chamisa) would want to talk to me when he claims I am illegitimate. I can't talk to someone who claims I am illegitimate. It implies that the talks will be illegitimate," Mnangagwa told private media journalists at State House on Wednesday.
This is not the first time that Mnangagwa has spoken about this. At the Zanu-PF annual conference in Esigodini in December he ruled out the possibility of forming a power-sharing government with the MDC, saying Zanu-PF got its mandate to rule the country after beating Chamisa in the presidential poll.
Mnangagwa claimed Chamisa had lied when he told a press conference on Tuesday that he had delivered official correspondence to his office requesting talks on five occasions. "I have not seen a single letter from Chamisa," Mnangagwa said.
The MDC leader told journalists that: "Legitimacy would be key to dialogue. I am not a lie, I don't want to acknowledge lies. I have said I will not recognise what is not recognisable. We are ready to talk, but we are going to talk about that issue (Mnangagwa's legitimacy) as the first issue. It is a dialoguing point. Why are you putting conditions? Why do you want Chamisa to recognise you? I have written five letters to ED, but he has never responded."
Public anticipation for the talks has grown in the past three weeks after violent demonstrations broke out across the country as people protested economic hardships.
Mnangagwa's administration responded by deploying the police and the army to quash the protests with brute force, sparking an outcry from human rights defenders and the international community.
During the interview, Mnangagwa defended the violent crackdown by security forces on civilians. He blamed the MDC for the violence in what he described as "a bid to soften the state for dialogue".
"We have been accused of using disproportionate force but these protestors were burning down police stations and various infrastructure including toll-gates along our highways. I am not sure how we were supposed to respond to that. Western countries in particular have raised concerns. Of course, we regret the loss of life but we needed to protect property as well as other citizens not involved in the protests. We have told the Western countries that they cannot turn around and raise concerns when they are the ones sponsoring the violence," Mnangagwa said.
He claimed that the United States, in particular, was sponsoring protesters "to install a pliable administration in Zimbabwe".
"They don't care about human rights, that's why you find that they support some countries with clear democratic deficits. It's about US interests and if we were pliable and accept to be used our country would not be in these problems. The Western media also turn perpetrators of violence and destruction into victims. But they don't show the destruction of property and direct threat to the stability of our country they caused," he said.
Mnangagwa also accused MDC president Nelson Chamisa of lying about writing five letters to him.
He said the biggest impediment to the talks has been Chamisa's insistence that Mnangagwa should accept that he is an illegitimate head of state before the two main political parties, MDC and Zanu-PF, can open dialogue. Chamisa approached the Constitutional Court seeking to overturn the result which gave Mnangagwa a wafer-thin 50,6% win in the July 30, 2018 presidential elections, but the petition was thrown out for lack of merit.
The opposition leader has, however, maintained he won the election and wants Mnangagwa to relinquish power.
"I hear there are talks going on and this is only in the media. I even have had to ask our party officials whether they have been in talks with the MDC behind my back. They are also surprised. I have never refused to talk and that is why after I came into office, you have seen me talking to all the people, from students, industry, the church, political parties and even traditional leaders. We continue to talk for the good of our country and my door is open. I, however, do not understand how he (Chamisa) would want to talk to me when he claims I am illegitimate. I can't talk to someone who claims I am illegitimate. It implies that the talks will be illegitimate," Mnangagwa told private media journalists at State House on Wednesday.
This is not the first time that Mnangagwa has spoken about this. At the Zanu-PF annual conference in Esigodini in December he ruled out the possibility of forming a power-sharing government with the MDC, saying Zanu-PF got its mandate to rule the country after beating Chamisa in the presidential poll.
Mnangagwa claimed Chamisa had lied when he told a press conference on Tuesday that he had delivered official correspondence to his office requesting talks on five occasions. "I have not seen a single letter from Chamisa," Mnangagwa said.
Public anticipation for the talks has grown in the past three weeks after violent demonstrations broke out across the country as people protested economic hardships.
Mnangagwa's administration responded by deploying the police and the army to quash the protests with brute force, sparking an outcry from human rights defenders and the international community.
During the interview, Mnangagwa defended the violent crackdown by security forces on civilians. He blamed the MDC for the violence in what he described as "a bid to soften the state for dialogue".
"We have been accused of using disproportionate force but these protestors were burning down police stations and various infrastructure including toll-gates along our highways. I am not sure how we were supposed to respond to that. Western countries in particular have raised concerns. Of course, we regret the loss of life but we needed to protect property as well as other citizens not involved in the protests. We have told the Western countries that they cannot turn around and raise concerns when they are the ones sponsoring the violence," Mnangagwa said.
He claimed that the United States, in particular, was sponsoring protesters "to install a pliable administration in Zimbabwe".
"They don't care about human rights, that's why you find that they support some countries with clear democratic deficits. It's about US interests and if we were pliable and accept to be used our country would not be in these problems. The Western media also turn perpetrators of violence and destruction into victims. But they don't show the destruction of property and direct threat to the stability of our country they caused," he said.
Source - the independent
