The ruling ZANU PF party says President Emmerson Mnangagwa will not hold bilateral talks with MDC leader Nelson Chamisa as that will be viewed as a betrayal by State House Dialogue interlocutors.
Zanu PF Secretary for Administration Obert Mpofu told The Herald that Chamisa is free to join the likes of Thokozani Khupe, Lucia Matibenga and Brian Mteki among others, in the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD). Said Mpofu:
The other parties might think we are betraying the understanding that we have come to build with them.
So, if they [MDC] have serious concerns on their part in the handling of the dialogue issues [when they join POLAD], they should raise them there; that’s where they will see the President and talk to him.
Chamisa has demanded direct one-on-one talks with Mnangagwa over the 2018 presidential election which he claims was rigged by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)to favour the ruling party candidate.
President Mnangagwa won by the skin of his teeth, having barely managed to reach the 50 per cent plus threshold to avoid a runoff.