#RRRV2023
On the other hand, the main
opposition parties, the CCC and
the MDC-T were bogged down
in a fight over names, a
situation that was exacerbated
by the announcement of the
by-election date.
The announcement by
Mwonzora that his party was to
run in by-elections as the MDC
Alliance, a name that the
Nelson Chamisa outfit had used
all along, upped the tension
and contributed to some of the
clashes between Mwonzora and
Chamisa’s supporters, and
subsequently, the MDC-T
contributed to a little over one
percent of all violations, and
this is due to incidents where
Chamisa’s supporters were
violated for supporting the
newly formed CCC.
OUR CONCLUSION:
It can be concluded that by
indicating that his party was to
contest as MDC Alliance,
Mwonzora sought to further
diminish the chances of a
thriving opposition in
Zimbabwe. It must be noted
that according to the
Constitution of Zimbabwe,
citizens have the freedom to
associate with any political
party they so wish to.
It was therefore of great
concern for the State and
ruling party to be seen to
coalesce and take sides with a
faction of the main opposition
political party to undermine
political party of the main
opposition. Evidence of this is
seen in the nearly 24 months
by the manner in which
activities of the main political
party were met with the heavy
hand of the police resulting in
many members of this outfit
being in the courts. It seemed
however activities of Zanu PF
and the Mwonzora outfit went
unnoticed. The events of
January confirm that the recall
of MDC Alliance MPs from
Parliament was not just a
political move that cost the
taxpayer who now has to
shoulder the expense of byelections, but was also part of a
grand scheme by the ruling
party to destroy the
opposition.What is of great
concern is that with such a
situation, the credibility of the
election is put into doubt
considering the coalescence
between some politicians, the
ruling party and some
government institutions that
are expected to be independent.
We continue to call for
impartiality by the relevant
institutions charged with the
responsibility to ensure a free,
fair and credible election and
that the will of the people
eventually prevails.
Pic: ZPPINFO