Nero exit throws fresh election push in jeopardy
Former CCC leader Nelson Chamisa
NELSON Chamisa’s spirited diplomatic offensive to push the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to facilitate fresh elections in Zimbabwe is effectively dead in the water after the politician quit the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) which he formed two (2) years ago, observers told the Independent.
In a dramatic move last week, Chamisa announced that he was leaving the CCC cockpit citing that the political party’s self-imposed secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu had hijacked the outfit ‘at the behest of Zanu PF.
Chamisa’s shock move – which has rattled the Zimbabwean political landscape, was triggered by Tshabangu’s actions to recall dozens of CCC legislators from the House of Assembly.
A number of by elections have since been held in some of the affected constituencies, with the next polls set to be held on February 3.
The ruling Zanu PF has increased its representation in Parliament since the recalls began, as it angles to attain a two-thirds majority.
The CCC, which lost last year’s disputed elections to Zanu PF with Chamisa as its presidential candidate launched a spirited campaign to nudge Sadc to organise fresh elections in Zimbabwe.
This came after the regional bloc’s observer mission led by former Zambian vice president Nevers Mumba failed to give the polls a clean bill of health, highlighting that they were conducted outside Zimbabwe’s constitutional framework.
Broadly, the regional body underscored that the polls failed to satisfy “Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”
Several observer missions including the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth also discredited the polls-which Chamisa described as a “gigantic fraud.”
Sadc’s unprecedented stance on Zimbabwe’s contested polls triggered a fierce backlash from top Zimbabwean government officials who indicated that Mumba-in his role as head of observer mission was being used by the West to effect regime change in Harare.
Even though several Sadc leaders congratulated President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his victory, only three Sadc heads of state attended Mnangagwa’s inauguration.
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