THE MDC Alliance says it will fight to keep its name ahead of possible by-elections to replace its recalled legislators and councillors, or risk allowing impunity to reign unchecked.
Speaking to NewsDay yesterday, opposition MDC Alliance
secretary-general Chalton Hwende said they would not allow the ruling Zanu PF
to steal its name through a proxy, Douglas Mwonzora and his MDC-T party.
He said allowing Mwonzora to claim the MDC Alliance name
was tantamount to allowing rigging. “Why allow them to rig? We are fighting to
reclaim everything, including the 2018 victory,” Hwende said.
“Our position is clear that we are the MDC that was founded
in 1999 and participated in the last elections as MDC Alliance. That is our
name, that is our history and it holds our values as a party.”
He added that if his party changed its name, then the
elections would be stolen. The MDC Alliance secretary-general said his party
would not abandon its name, adding that it was prepared to fight the system.
“If we surrender the name, the thief will come again and
steal more from us and, therefore, we will have to continue fighting. It is our
name, why should we abandon it? Mwonzora is just an accessory to the theft and
we are not even worried about him. We want to deal with the real thief,” he
said.
Hwende also said the MDC Alliance would, as a way of
protest, boycott by-elections if it was blocked from using its party name.
His statement comes after Mwonzora’s MDC-T last month
claimed that it would contest the yet-to-be-announced by-elections as MDC
Alliance, a move likely to confuse opposition voters and advantage the ruling
Zanu PF party.
Hwende yesterday insisted that Mwonzora’s MDC-T was working
in cahoots with Zanu PF to destroy their movement.
He said the Nelson Chamisa-led party would not participate
in any by-election if it was forced to abandon its name, but would keep
fighting for electoral reforms to ensure a level playing field.
“There won’t be any by-election that will be allowed to
take place without the MDC represented by advocate Nelson Chamisa,” he said.
“We are Zimbabweans, we are protected by the Constitution
and (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa is determined to (make) our party (extinct).
We are not going to allow them. This is a fight that we are prepared for and if
you allow dictators to steal your name and you force yourself to participate in
that sham election, what guarantee do you have that your election result will not
be stolen?
“We don’t participate in elections for purposes of
fulfilling a ritual. We participate because we believe in democracy and so
there will be no elections, and they must not fool themselves. If they call for
by-elections, Zec [Zimbabwe Electoral Commission] must facilitate participation
of the MDC Alliance as led by Advocate Nelson Chamisa.”
Zanu PF recently rubbished claims that it was working with
Mwonzora to obliterate the MDC Alliance, saying the opposition should solve its
internal problems.
Hwende is among the more than 40 MPs that were recalled by
the MDC-T. About 80 councillors were also recalled. The country awaits
by-elections to replace the MDC Alliance recalled MPs and councillors, but Zec
yesterday said it would remain guided by the legal framework and the Health
ministry regulations on conducting of by-elections.
In a statement, Zec chief elections officer Utoile
Silaigwana said while the rights and freedoms for citizens are enshrined in the
Constitution, which include the right to elect leaders of their own choice,
there were also limits imposed on such rights.
“Section 86 of the Constitution limits freedoms in the
interest of public safety, public health and the general interest of the
public. Where such rights are limited through a statutory instrument and which
instrument has not been set aside by a court of law, the commission has no
right to disregard lawful obligations.
“On March 1, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Child Care
relaxed these measures and subsequently, the commission also announced the
resumption of some electoral activities such as voter registration and
transfers while by-elections remain suspended since some lockdown measures of
Statutory Instrument 10 of 2021 are still in force,” Silaigwana said.
United Kingdom-based lawyer Alex Magaisa, however, said
there was no legal basis to justify the continued suspension of by-elections.
“It’s the illegality that bothers me. Zec chief elections
officer can justify the suspension of by-elections all he likes, but he should
not use false legal grounds. The real issue is that section 158(3) imposes a
mandatory duty to hold by-elections within 90 days of a vacancy occurring. The
words are polling ‘must take place’ in that period, there is no room for
exception in that provision,” Magaisa said. Newsday
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