MDC-T leader and presidential candidate for the MDC Alliance, Nelson Chamisa is reported to be demanding a meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Chamisa wants the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to publicly announce that they will accept the results of the upcoming 2018 harmonised elections regardless of the winner.
Luke Tamborinyoka, Chamisa’s presidential spokesperson said:
President Chamisa has written to Mnangagwa and indicated that top of the agenda at the envisaged meeting by the two would be the issue of the military’s involvement in national politics. He (Chamisa) wants the army to undeclare its previous pronouncements that they will not accept an election outcome that does not favour Zanu PF.
This follows similar pronouncements from the European Union (EU). Philippe Van Damme the EU ambassador to Zimbabwe also said that the military should follow the constitution and be neutral when it comes to elections.
Tamborinyoka also said that the MDC-T wants a meeting where all the parties are on equal footing and not one where Zanu-PF and Mnangagwa would be leading. Said Tamborinyoka,
The meeting we are asking for is one at which people are equals, not in which Mnangagwa plays Big Brother or lord to other political leaders. He is a presidential candidate like everyone else.
More: NewsDay