Opposition All People’s Congress Party leader Nason Msoni has advised President Edgar Lungu to embrace a spirit of “give and take” as he goes into the scheduled dialogue meeting with Catholic Bishops.

In a statement shared on his Facebook Wall, Msoni said he also hopped that the bishops would be frank and candid as they address the Head of State.

“Real dialogue should be one in which a spirit of give and take is evident and fully exercised through genuine commitment. We do hope that the announcement by State House to hold an indaba with the Catholic Church Bishops will give the country the much desired and anticipated renewed sense and ray of hope for a new direction,” Msoni stated.

“As political parties, we encourage a more frank and candid approach to the forthcoming meeting. Needless for me to remind and warn State actors that they shoulder the highest responsibility and must embrace this new avenue with both hands. The bishops are acting in good faith and in the best interest of the country and we expect the State to act more responsibly and reasonable.”

He observed that failing to acknowledge the political tension in the country was not helpful to conflict resolution.

“The polarised atmosphere in the country can not be resolved by those refusing to acknowledge it. Whilst dialogue remains critical and essential, it must not be a perfect opportunity for window dressing or some convenient political stunt meant to hoodwink the Zambian public,” said Msoni.

“Truth be told, it is in fact the stubborn State actors that need this dialogue more than the Catholic Church, or indeed any other participating Church Mother Body. We do hope that intolerance is not going to define the caricature of the indaba. It would be most unfortunate for the parties to the meeting to fail to agree and to take full advantage of the opportunity for dialogue.”

Yesterday, State House announced that President Lungu would soon meet the Catholic Bishops who last month issued a strong statement, calling his PF government a dictatorship.

This was after the Head of State met the Apostolic Nuncio to Zambia and Malawi Archbishop Julio Murat at State House.