MDC-T leader, Nelson Chamisa yesterday warned the United Kingdom that Zimbabwe needs to have democracy before any stability happens.

He said backing President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the backdrop of assumed political stability would be unsustainable.

Chamisa warned that this approach could in effect lead to instability.

Chamisa was speaking at the Chatham House thinktank in London and he said,

“We have seen that there has been a bit of a shift on the part of the British government in terms of focusing more on political stability and trade and commerce at the expense of democracy.But that is a false narrative, you can never have stability without democracy.

“We expect Britain and the EU to speak for free and fair elections. There’s a very disturbing trend in the context of the British government in Zimbabwe.We’re seeing the inclination to align with one political party against another. That is disturbing, particularly in terms of the issue of just setting the basic standard for free and fair elections.

“Because for a long time, the British government has been emphasising norms, values — let those norms and values of free and fair elections be respected. That is all we want — we’re not asking for money. We’re asking for the solidarity of a global coalition for free and fair elections.”