By Staff Reporter
MAIN opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader has labeled the upcoming by-elections as ‘illegitimate’ and announced that his party will not participate in them.
In an interview with Sources News Media Agency, Chamisa said the by-elections were created and organized in an unlawful manner.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently set December 9 as the date for the by-elections following the vacancies declared by the Speaker of Parliament.
This came after CCC’s ‘interim secretary general,’ Sengezo Tshabangu, recalled 15 legislators saying they had ceased to be party members.
“Tshabangu is not a CCC member. He belongs elsewhere; he’s being imposed on the CCC to particularly achieve certain ends,” said Chamisa.
“Why is Zanu PF doing this, they know that we defeated them in the election. They want us to focus internally and not focus on the issue. They want us to take our eyes off the need for a proper election and focus on these stupid and useless by-elections that are created and contrived unlawfully, criminally and unconstitutionally.”
Asked if CCC will participate, Chamisa said: “We will not waste our time on unconstitutional things.”
“The fact that you have a Speaker who chooses to act not just in error or on the basis of a mistake but on the basis of a crime, a ZEC that chooses to act on the basis of a crime and a ‘president’ who chooses to act on the basis of a crime that makes it a criminal syndicate.
“Zimbabwe has become a big crime scene. Well, we should not waste time on unconstitutional acts on criminal acts we don’t participate in crime.”
Chamisa has refuted Tshabangu’s authority, stating that his opposition party does not recognize such a position.
On Monday, Tshabangu informed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that only he and two others, Jabulani Ncube and Mbuso Sisa, were responsible for signing off on candidates for the by-election.
