Source: MDC heals rift with Alliance partners – DailyNews Live
19 June 2018
HARARE – 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.
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