Zambian opposition leader differs on facilitator of dialogue

LUSAKA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's leading opposition leader on Thursday differed with President Edgar Lungu on who should lead the dialogue meant to tackle contentious issues that arose after the disputed 2016 general elections.

On Wednesday, the Zambian president said he wanted the dialogue, currently being facilitated by the Commonwealth, to be driven by the Zambia Center for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID), a local organization comprising political parties, and that external players should only participate as observers.

Lungu added that Zambia was capable of addressing its own issues as a sovereign nation and that the governing party, the Patriotic Front (PF), was ready for the dialogue.

But Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who narrowly lost to Lungu in the 2016 polls, said it was unfortunate that the Zambian leader does not want the Commonwealth to facilitate dialogue.

"So far, a lot of preparatory and ground work has already been done to set the right environment for the dialogue. We find it preposterous that Edgar Lungu and PF can now turn back on the Commonwealth-supported dialogue after assurance he gave them barely a month ago," the opposition leader said in a statement.

The opposition party, he said, was available for unconditional and genuine dialogue in the spirit of moving the country forward.

Last month, Commonwealth Special Envoy on the Zambian dialogue Ibrahim Gambari was in the country and held talks with all stakeholders engaged in the preparations of the dialogue.

The envoy said after the meetings that it was time for the dialogue to start, which was supposed to be preceded by the formation of a steering committee. Enditem