The spokesperson for Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Nelson Chamisa, confirmed that his party and the ruling ZANU-PF were close to agreeing to the framework for talks aimed at ending the country's political crisis. "There has been an “understanding in terms of the parameters of engagement,” he said.
The confirmation came after today's announcement by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga that the two parties would sign the framework this week.
Chamisa said, the fact that the United nations and the African Union were now party to the process being shepherded by the Southern Africa Development Community, was indication that there has been an addition of international impetus and endorsement that would make it possible for the MDC to be part of this “credible process”.
The MDC spokesperson would not reveal the details of the framework, but said “it is basically about the time zone, the frame, the issue of the items to be deliberated upon, the size and the nature of the delegation and the anticipated objective or outcome.”
On the issue of certain demand to be met before continuation of talks, Chamisa said the government had fully complied. “There is a catalog of acts of bad faith…” he said.
However, he added that the MDC was willing to be sensitive to the situation Zimbabweans were going through and was, therefore, ready to “seize the bull by the horn…and see at the end of the process what the whole movement is going to be like.”
“There’s debt and impoverishment, and stinking poverty in this country that requires, urgently, the attention of politicians,” Chamisa said.