Set agenda for talks

It is our recommendation that the government start the ball rolling by tendering a formal offer for talks in writing to the opposition. The offer should encompass the following: the first step is for the secretary generals of both major parties to meet one to one with a view to agreeing to the details for the talks between the two sides.

These details must include the date, time, and venue for the talks to be held, the agenda, and the composition of delegates. It is time to formalise the statements of cooperation and willingness to talk that each side has been making, and to ensure that the current momentum for talks is not lost or dissipated.

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Equally important as a concrete written formal proposal for talks that sets out the particularities and leaves no important detail unattended to, is for the atmosphere surrounding the talks to be congenial and conducive to compromise and real progress.

To this end, we would urge that both sides tone down the rhetoric against one another and refrain from name-calling or innuendo or other measures that could be expected to sour the atmosphere. The government needs to also refrain from using the apparatus of the state to harass the opposition.

We stand at a moment of significant promise in which the two parties, if they are sincere and committed, can go a long way to resolving their differences, which would be to the benefit of the entire nation. They cannot let this opportunity go abegging due to pettiness and partisanship.