The recent collapse of the Citizens Alliance for Change, which culminated in the resignation of party leader Mr Nelson Chamisa last week, was the result of internecine power struggles between rival factions within the organization and Zanu PF should not be blamed. said a senior government official.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail yesterday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said Mr Chamisa’s statement announcing his resignation was full of lies aimed at blaming outside influences, when in fact the party’s collapse was due to internal strife. .
“He wants to claim that he is leaving his party because of Zanu PF which is not allowing him to run,” Minister Ziyambi said.
“This assertion is like a man who has abandoned his family because the family next door makes it impossible for him to run his household.
“It shows that we are dealing with someone who is unable to lead in times of adversity.
“If you are a leader, you cannot leave your flock; You need to make sure you are behind them and that you are leading from the front, not from the back.
“But we are dealing with someone who blames everyone but himself; In fact, he thinks he’s the only one who’s okay. “Everyone is wrong but him.”
He said Mr Chamisa’s statement “blames all his problems on Zanu PF”.
“We are merely beneficiaries of their foolishness and not the source of their problems.”
Minister Ziyambi said the chaos in the opposition was costing the country dearly by funding the by-elections.
“What we did was that when they could not agree with each other and kicked each other out, we followed due process and allowed by-elections to take place.
In fact, I said in my previous statements that their foolishness cost the country a lot of money in terms of financing the by-elections.
He added that the parliamentary majority obtained by Zanu PF after coordinated elections last year was enough for the party to govern, proving that it had no incentive to cause by-elections.
“We were very happy with the results and were going to live up to the results we got, contrary to their view that we were obsessed with a two-thirds majority.
Our leader pointed out that we must respect the will of the people and work with what we have; He said: “This is the message that came from His Excellency.”
“He said let’s work with what we got and that’s what we were prepared to do.
But fortunately for us, and unfortunately for the economy, they have decided to fight among themselves, and who are we to say that we do not want to fight a by-election when the law says that is the procedure to be followed?
“We are in no way interested in a two-thirds majority. We have a sufficient majority in Parliament to ensure we achieve what is required to govern the country.”
He added that Chamisa’s attempts to taint the country’s electoral processes were an attempt to grasp at straws after his party’s comprehensive defeat in August last year.
“In his childish cries, he says Zanu PF rigged the demarcation exercise.
“But you will recall that Zimbabwe African Union Party (PF) MPs were at the forefront in identifying some shortcomings in the demarcation report.
“But the way our laws are written is that Parliament, the President or the political parties do not agree with the demarcation process.”
He said that these institutions were only given the freedom to comment on the report in relation to the law.
“Comments made, even by the President and his Zanu PF party, were critical of the report.
“At that particular time, the CCC never made any comment attacking the demarcation report.
“But now that he has decided to abandon his family, he is now saying that the demarcation process was manipulated in favor of ZANU, which we deny.”
Minister Ziyambi said Mr Chamisa’s claims that his party had become frustrated during the election campaigns were baseless.
“He is now complaining that the Zimbabwe African Union Party (PF) wanted to prevent its candidates from contesting in Bulawayo.
“But Zanu PF only followed procedures and argued in court that its members had submitted nomination papers early and the court ruled that they would be allowed to compete.”
He also said that claims of a “legitimacy crisis” in the country were untrue.
He said: “We went to the elections, the Independent Electoral Commission held the elections, announced the results and the government was formed.
“This means that there is no crisis of legitimacy; “In fact, things are very normal.”
He advised the CCC lawmakers to respect the will of the people and continue their work in Parliament.
“Our position is that we hope that the MPs from the CCC are not like a fly following a corpse into the grave.
“We pray that they will do the sensible thing and wish their former leader well and the restructuring so that we continue to have an active opposition within Parliament.
“We appreciate some of the contributions they have made regarding the debate in the House of Representatives and we hope that they will respect the will of the people and continue with the mandate they were given and allow their former leader to leave the political arena.
“I say that because if they follow their leader and resign, the law is very clear about what will happen, and a by-election will be held.” Sunday mail
