9 February, 2004
No deal between MDC and Zanu PF.
Following press reports alleging that the MDC and Zanu PF have agreed to bring forward the parliamentary elections by three months to March 2005 the MDC would like to state the following:
First, the timing of the parliamentary elections has never been in dispute. What has always been the issue of dispute is the stolen presidential election of March 2002. The dates of the parliamentary elections have no bearing to the dispute.
Secondly, the only contact that has taken place between the MDC and Zanu PF has been on talks about talks and not on any substantive issues. Accordingly, it cannot possibly be true that there can be any agreement between the MDC and Zanu PF to bring forward the parliamentary elections.
We do nevertheless agree with president Mbeki on the urgent need for a process of formal dialogue to take place. We share his sentiment that postponing the process is to the detriment of the people of Zimbabwe whose suffering has reached unprecedented levels. As we have stated before, it is not the MDC that is delaying the process of dialogue but Zanu PF.
We have always acknowledged dialogue as the essential mechanism for tackling Zimbabwe's multi-faceted crisis. A political settlement is the necessary pre-condition to tackling the issues that are driving the current crisis.
Professor Welshman Ncube
MDC Secretary General.
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