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David Coltart speaks on dialogue with Mnangagwa
26 Jun 2019 at 11:48hrs | Views
MDC Treasurer General David Coltart says the MDC will not allow a person who stole an election to dictate the terms of the much needed national dialogue.
In a Twitter conversation with Mnangagwa's advisor Shingi Munyeza and Business Tycoon Mutumwa Mawere he said, "I would just add we need a dialogue arbitrated by a neutral democratic peer. We cannot have one person, who even on his own figures, in a fraudulent unconstitutional election, won by a tiny margin, dictate the terms, pace, venue and structure of the dialogue."
Coltart said the gap between legitimacy and illegitimacy of President Emmerson Mnanaggwa's Presidency needs to be bridged so that the dialogue can be done in good faith.
"The gap has to be bridged or else our nation will continue to plunge. In South Africa in 1990 there was also a large gulf but it was bridged. Good faith can overcome massive obstacles. But we have a serious deficit of good faith.
"Legitimacy is an issue - last year's elections were illegal, and not free and fair. All reasonable observers concede that."
The lawyer added that the judiciary system has contributed to the national crisis in the country.
"It is also no use relying on the Constitutional Court judgment because any lawyer worth his or her salt will explain how fundamentally flawed both the procedure and judgment were. So in a dialogue it is unhelpful trying to argue that a discredited process must just be accepted.
"Clearly in the Zimbabwean context the judiciary is part of the problem, particularly since the election and this year when it has acted systematically in a manner which disrespects the rule of law and the Constitution."
In a Twitter conversation with Mnangagwa's advisor Shingi Munyeza and Business Tycoon Mutumwa Mawere he said, "I would just add we need a dialogue arbitrated by a neutral democratic peer. We cannot have one person, who even on his own figures, in a fraudulent unconstitutional election, won by a tiny margin, dictate the terms, pace, venue and structure of the dialogue."
Coltart said the gap between legitimacy and illegitimacy of President Emmerson Mnanaggwa's Presidency needs to be bridged so that the dialogue can be done in good faith.
"The gap has to be bridged or else our nation will continue to plunge. In South Africa in 1990 there was also a large gulf but it was bridged. Good faith can overcome massive obstacles. But we have a serious deficit of good faith.
"Legitimacy is an issue - last year's elections were illegal, and not free and fair. All reasonable observers concede that."
The lawyer added that the judiciary system has contributed to the national crisis in the country.
"It is also no use relying on the Constitutional Court judgment because any lawyer worth his or her salt will explain how fundamentally flawed both the procedure and judgment were. So in a dialogue it is unhelpful trying to argue that a discredited process must just be accepted.
"Clearly in the Zimbabwean context the judiciary is part of the problem, particularly since the election and this year when it has acted systematically in a manner which disrespects the rule of law and the Constitution."
Source - Byo24News
