MDC has come out guns blazing after leaders of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) travelled to the Midlands town of Kwekwe and met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at his farm.<\/p>\n
MDC national spokesperson, Daniel Molokole said the visit to Mnangagwa\u2019s Sherwood Farm confirmed its long held suspicions that POLAD was an extension of Zanu PF.<\/p>\n
POLAD is a loose grouping of 2018 presidential candidates formed by Mnangagwa last year as pressure mounted on the under-fire national leader to close ranks with his political rivals with hopes to end the country\u2019s myriad crises.<\/p>\n
MDC leader and losing candidate in last year\u2019s election, Nelson Chamisa decided not to be part of the platform. He is also challenging the results of the presidential election claiming the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) rigged the plebiscite on behalf of Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe holding of the event at ED\u2019s (Mnangagwa) farm and outside government spaces, emphasises the fact that the MDC has always raised concerning that the grouping is compromised,\u201d Molokele told NewZimbabwe.com in an interview Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said the MDC had long viewed POLAD as an extension of Mnangagwa\u2019s political office and its members were nothing but Zanu PF activists.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you may be aware, one of them recently joined Zanu PF and not only that but Zanu PF leadership boasted that more of them would be joining Zanu PF. So we can\u2019t be part of a patronage system,\u201d the MDC official said.<\/p>\n
Brian Mteki who contested as an independent presidential candidate recently joined Zanu PF saying the \u2018new dispensation\u2019 under President Mnangagwa had reformed compared to the previous regime of the late President Robert Mugabe.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the MDC, it\u2019s like there is no difference between POLAD and Zanu PF. After the visit to Mnangagwa\u2019s farm, the MDC feels vindicated after we decided to boycott POLAD,\u201d Molokele added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we really need in the country is a much more broader all-inclusive platform for national dialogue that is not convened by Zanu PF or by ED\u2019s delegates but where ED is one of the stakeholders, not a convener.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we want someone who is a neutral convener, a neutral facilitator, preferably someone international to increase the impartiality and neutrality of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, POLAD members requested for a meeting with Mnangagwa at his Kwekwe farm where the environment was \u2018relaxed\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was POLAD members who requested for a meeting in a relaxed environment. So there will be around one and a half hours of business and there will be a tour of the farm,\u201d Charamba had said earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MDC has come out guns blazing after leaders of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) travelled to the Midlands town of Kwekwe and met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at his farm. MDC national spokesperson, Daniel Molokole said the visit to Mnangagwa\u2019s Sherwood Farm confirmed its long held suspicions that POLAD was an extension of Zanu PF. POLAD […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":13193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[38,797,88],"class_list":{"0":"post-17136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-parties","9":"tag-zanu-pf","10":"tag-daniel-molokele","11":"tag-mdc"},"yoast_head":"\n