Govt Dismisses GNU Talks

Information Ministry secretary Nick Mangwana said President Mnangagwa’s government will not be forced into a Government of National Unity or power-sharing arrangement.

In an editorial published in The Sunday Mail, Mangwana said there is no need for a GNU because Zanu-PF won 145 National Assembly seats against its main challenger, MDC-Alliance, which garnered 63 seats. Mangwana said the dialogue initiated by President Mnangagwa is not a power-sharing negotiation. Said Mangwana:

In Britain there is a hung parliament. This could be an ideal case for GNU between Labour and the Conservative. But the mere suggestion of that would sound so ridiculous that some may ask the suggester to have a Mental State Examination. In the United States, there is so much bitterness which goes back to the elections; that’s why there has been this shut down over the building of the border wall. But nobody has made a suggestion for the Democrats and the Republicans to have a GNU. Why then do we get that suggestion whenever there is some crisis in Africa? Isn’t this the type of attitude which makes African leaders accuse their Western colleagues of condescension and double standards?

More: Herald