MDC leader Nelson Chamisa faces the prospect of being
challenged by two party heavyweights in his bid to succeed the late Morgan
Tsvangirai after his deputy Elias Mudzuri declared he was ready to challenge
anyone.”
The party’s provincial congresses begin today with
Matabeleland South making its nominations for standing committee members and
Harare will be the last on April 16, a circular seen by The Standard has
revealed.
Mudzuri, who has kept his ambitions a closely-guarded
secret, yesterday opened up on his bid saying he would contest any position,
including the presidency, if he is nominated.
“If nominated, I am prepared to challenge anyone,” he said.
The former Energy minister dismissed reports that he had struck a deal with
Chamisa where he would have backed the party’s 2018 presidential candidate to
lead the country’s main opposition party.
“The news report that made emphatic claims about a supposed
deal between myself and Advocate Chamisa, is wholly untrue,” Mudzuri said.
“No such understanding has been considered, much less
reached.
“The story could have only originated from a very
mischievous tale bearer, seeking to engineer and manipulate public discourse to
fit in a personal scheme.”
Mudzuri joins MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, who
has also declared that he would challenge Chamisa if nominated.
The MDC is currently holding branch, ward and district
congresses ahead of the main congress to be held next month.
The process has been marred by violence pitting Chamisa and
Mwonzora’s backers.
Mwonzora’s backers are claiming some party bigwigs are
manipulating grassroots votes to ensure only those aligned to Chamisa would
vote for the president at congress, a claim rejected by MDC organising
secretary Amos Chibaya.
Mudzuri yesterday condemned the violence and called for
unity in the party.
Meanwhile, the MDC has ordered officials eyeing various
positions at its upcoming congress to stop using “pictorial advertising”
campaign posters before they have been officially certified as nominated.
Social media has been awash with posters of aspiring
candidates vying for certain positions even before they have been officially
nominated, forcing the MDC national organising department to step in to stop
the practice.
“At a meeting of the standing committee held on April 3,
2019, it was resolved that all aspiring candidates must with immediate effect
cease using pictorial advertising to market themselves,” MDC Alliance deputy
national organising secretary Bekithemba Sibanda wrote in a memo dated April 4.
The memo is copied to MDC standing committee members,
national executive and provincial executive members.
“Aspiring candidates can only do so after they have been
officially certified as nominated at the relevant congresses,” Sibanda added.
MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said the directive was
necessary to avoid a shambolic campaign process ahead of the congress.
“We are saying, you cannot have people just waking up to
put campaign posters, some for various positions ahead of being nominated, it’s
shambolic,” Mafume said.
“Aspiring candidates have to be nominated first.”
According to the template, a candidate is eligible to
contest for any position from ward up to national levels if they have served in
the party for at least five years while branches have a minimum of two years.
The MDC has been holding branch and district congresses
that have, however, been marred by violence and allegations of vote-rigging,
among other malpractices. Standard
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