via PDP official: election boycott a betrayal – NewZimbabwe 05/01/2016
PEOPLE’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mashonaland East chairman Langton Matuku says the opposition’s “No Reforms No Election” stance has given Zanu PF the opportunity to make a mockery of the electoral processes as it is replacing fired pro-Joice Mujuru councillors with 80 year old candidates.
Matuku told Newzimbabwe.com that the boycott stance is now costly and its betrayal nature was demonstrated when Zanu PF Mashonaland East chairperson Joel Biggie Matiza’s 78 year old mother was recently ‘elected’ the Murewa north ward 16 Councillor.
“This has greatly affected us at ward level where the real people are, because we have seen Zanu PF freely grabbing these seats and giving them to aged people some of whom are more than 78 years old.
“This is a betrayal to the people who need able bodied leaders to spearhead service delivery,” said Matuku.
“Had we had contested we would have grabbed the ward and given it to a youthful candidate with energy to spearhead development.”
The opposition, soon after the 2013 election, resolved to boycott all elections until government realigns electoral laws with the new constitution.
Among other things, the opposition are demanding the provision of the voters’ roll to contesting political parties three months before the elections and fair media coverage by the state broadcaster (ZBC) to all contesting candidates.
Matuku said the PDP membership recruitment exercise was going on well in Mashonaland East, adding that they had a chance of grabbing all parliamentary seats and local council seats which have fallen vacant.
“We are doing the recruitment exercise freely without intimidation and the only problem we are facing is that of funding which all political parties are facing,” he said.
PDP is led by former finance minister Tendai Biti who fell out with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in 2014. Biti led a walk out of a number of MPs and prominent MDC-T members, accusing Tsvangirai of dictatorship. They became the MDC-Renewal Team but they were to split again with former MDC-T deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma forming his own Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe.
The 2014 split was the second after Welshman Ncube, then secretary general, led a walkout of a range of MPs, accusing Tsvangirai of the same. Ncube currently leads the MDC. All the MDCs including Biti’s PDP are boycotting polls until reforms are instituted.
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