Chamisa calls for political dialogue with Zanu-PF

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has called for a dialogue with Zanu-PF following "a constitutional crisis" which saw 15 opposition MPs and  17 councillors being recalled.

The MPs and councillors were recalled by one Sengezo Tshabangu claiming to be CCC's interim secretary general citing they had ceased to be opposition members. Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda acknowledged Tshabangu's letter and notified the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of vacancies.

Chamisa, at a press briefing on Wednesday, blamed Zanu-PF for choreographing the existing controversy adding there is a need for dialogue.

"Zimbabwean citizens across the whole country are demanding an immediate resolution of the legitimacy crisis, but how are we going to resolve the legitimacy crisis?

"To lead you need a mandate. A mandate comes from a vote. That mandate is disputed.

"Therefore there has to be a political settlement, a political dialogue immediately, to be able to deal with the issues of the disputed election and it is in this spirit mandated by the citizens and the national assembly, we have written to SADC, the SADC secretariat, the SADC chair and the heads of the state…and we have communicated the same to resolve the dispute and stalemate in Zimbabwe.

"We have copied Zanu-PF because you know it takes two to tango. We have also reached out to Zanu-PF in their various organs to say we have to resolve the issue of a disputed election because even if you go by the clearly disputed elections, it is almost a half-half or 50 50 meaning to say that the sentiment in the country in terms of the declared ZEC results which are flawed, the sentiment is divided," said Chamisa.

CCC demanded for a fresh election after Zanu-PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of the contested polls.

The opposition complained that the entire electoral process was flawed, further demanding the disbanding of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

Chamisa said these are some of the things that have to be discussed to avoid the repetition of flawed electoral processes in Zimbabwe.

"We are putting on notice all key stakeholders including Civil Society, SADC, the AU and the UN that we have a constitutional crisis and a disputed election in Zimbabwe.

"We are going to run a campaign diplomatically, politically in a peaceful manner in a constitutional manner because there are remedies within the constitution and we are going to exhaust them," he said.

Meanwhile, Chamisa said his lawmakers and councillors will be disengaging from duty until Parliament reverses the recalls.

He added it was wrong for Mudenda to act on an impostor's instructions while ignoring the letter he wrote to him stating only he had the power to make decisions affecting the legislators.