Chamisa heals rift with Alliance partners

Published: 19 June 2018

The Nelson Chamisa-led MDC has set up a team to engage their disgruntled Alliance partners and party members who filed their papers as independent candidates.

Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, MDC national chairperson Morgen Komichi said his party is making frantic efforts to solve the problems in the MDC Alliance.

"We are going to resolve all these problems soon, we are going to sit down with them (Alliance partners) and resolve the issues, we are one family and I think it's very easy for us to solve the issues. The team is also engaging independent candidates and all party members who filed their papers as independent candidates.

"I am leading the team; the bigger picture is that we want to see all opposition parties working together for the good of the country. We want to field strong candidates in all constituencies so we are going to map the way forward soon."

Komichi warned some candidates who scanned signatures of official signatories for them to be able to be accepted at the Nomination Court.

"We know some candidates who scanned signatures; definitely we are going to deal with them."

The MDC has reportedly fielded candidates in constituencies and wards reserved for Alliance partners, leading to double registration.

There was double registration in various constituencies which includes Zaka West, Gutu North, Gutu West and Gutu Central, Bikita East and Masvingo South.

In Bikita East the seat which was initially allocated to Transform Zimbabwe was given to MDC's Bonface Mudzingwa since the leadership in Masvingo discovered that their partners did not have structures in that constituency.

On the other hand, the MDC's primaries attracted widespread criticism from disgruntled party members and losing candidates, who accuse their leaders of abandoning democratic processes.

With many of the party's sitting MPs and aspiring candidates not subjected to primary elections, and being selected through what the MDC has said was via a "consensus" process, this left many followers unhappy.

Among its senior officials who have decided to stand as independents is long-serving MP for Harare West, Jessie Majome — who has accused the MDC leadership of manipulating party guidelines.

The saving grace for MDC could be that candidates that have registered to participate in the polls, including independents, will be allowed to rescind their decision within seven days of the Nomination Court sitting.
- dailynews

Tags: Chamisa,