IPD leader joins calls for national dialogue

Obituaries
Staff Writer Ideas Party of Democracy (IPD) President Hebert Chamuka has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to urgently engage all political parties in a genuine national dialogue aimed at resolving the country’s economic and political crisis. In an interview from his South Africa base on Friday, Chamuka said the country can only move forward if […]

Staff Writer

Ideas Party of Democracy (IPD) President Hebert Chamuka has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to urgently engage all political parties in a genuine national dialogue aimed at resolving the country’s economic and political crisis.

In an interview from his South Africa base on Friday, Chamuka said the country can only move forward if all political parties engage in a comprehensive and frank dialogue.

Currently Mnangagwa insists that dialogue must take place within the political actors under the discredited Polad Platform IPD and which some of the country’s top parties like the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance are not involved.

“As IPD, we call on Mnangagwa to call for a national dialogue with opposition political parties and other political stakeholders. It has to be a comprehensive and all-inclusive dialogue which we think is the best way forward in terms of trying to resolve the current economic crisis,”Chamuka said.

“The dialogue should actually be held as a matter of urgency given the nature and scale of economic decay,” he said. Chamuka said that other opposition parties must also consider the same idea, adding that the dialogue should at all costs be concluded before the 2023 general election.

“It’s time we in the opposition also need to take the country very seriously and start looking at the bigger picture. We must work on the framework within which the dialogue is to be held and this calls for the commitment of all parties. Things are not right politically, economically and socially and we cannot afford to let time pass doing nothing.

If we leave the situation like this and go for elections as it is, I foresee violence and bloodshed in that election,” he said.

“Mnangagwa must accept to dialogue with all parties and not just those that are friendlier to his Zanu PF party. That’s not the way to go. We need to unite and work together to improve the country and this means the full participation of all parties in the country,” he said.

He also said everyone must be prepared to accept the idea of a non-aligned transitional government running the country for at least six months “while we put our politics in order”.

Chamuka was recently election as the IPD substantive IPD president earlier this month in a trend-setting online poll for the executive. Elections for other leadership positions are set to be held virtually soon in live with Covid-19 regulations.