Chamisa key player: Diplomats

By The NewsDay | Aug. 8, 2018 | 2 Min read

ALGERIAN ambassador to Zimbabwe, Nacerdine Sai has said MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa had a key role to play in rebuilding and stabilising the country despite his controversial defeat by Zanu PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa in last week’s presidential race.

BY TINOTENDA MUNYUKWI

Addressing journalists soon after meeting Mnangagwa yesterday, Sai said the over two million votes that Chamisa garnered in the presidential race qualified him to be considered a key stakeholder in shaping the country’s future.

“The number of votes the candidate, Chamisa, got shows that he has a role to play in this nation. They [MDC Alliance] have the voice and they have to continue to voice their opinion, although we call for respect of the results of the elections, whatever are the results,” Sai said.

Chamisa, who garnered 44,3% of the vote compared to Mnangagwa’s 50,8%, claimed the results were rigged and has approached the courts to overturn his rival’s victory.

Speaking at the same event, Angolan ambassador to Zimbabwe, Pedro Hendrick Vaal Neto, said: “We think that everyone in the country is supposed to work in the sense of bettering the situation in the country and everyone should unite with the government in order to be in a better position to solve mostly the economic and social problems of the country.”

Recently, Mnangagwa ruled out any possibility of forming a Government of National Unity with Chamisa.

South African ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mphakama Mbete, said the contestations surrounding the election results must be expeditiously resolved using constitutional channels.

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“We think that there are no perfect elections, there is no country with perfect elections, so we wouldn’t expect elections here to be perfect. We are hopeful that the outstanding issues will be resolved through the channels provided by the constitutional framework of Zimbabwe,” he said.