SIX contestants have been cleared to take part in next Saturday’s Zanu PF primary elections for by-elections in Harare East and Mt Pleasant constituencies on April 27.
Cdes Lynnette Mahlaba and Kelvin Mutimbanyoka will battle
it out in Harare East, while Cdes George Mashavave, Jaison Pasadi, Chris Chuchu
and Biddle Gwasira will compete in Mt Pleasant.
The two constituencies fell vacant after former legislators
Ms Fadzai Mahere (Mt Pleasant) and Mr Rusty Markham (Harare East) resigned from
Parliament last month.
Zanu PF National Political Commissar Cde Mike Bimha
yesterday told journalists that the contesting candidates had been cleared by
the party’s Presidium.
“You will recall that we had Members of Parliament who
resigned (from CCC), in particular the Members of Parliament for Harare East
and Mt Pleasant,” he said.
“They resigned in solidarity with Nelson Chamisa and,
therefore, these constituencies were then declared vacant and the proclamation
was issued that there will be elections on the 27th of April this year to fill
these vacancies.
“The party has set Saturday the 23rd of March as the date
for primary elections. Primary elections are held where there is more than one
aspiring candidate.
“Therefore, I am pleased to announce that His Excellency
and Zanu PF First Secretary Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa has approved the candidates in
the Zanu PF primary elections next Saturday.”
Cde Bimha said for party members to be eligible to vote in
the primaries, they needed to be in the party’s cell registers and also be
registered voters under the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
He said the ruling party had on Friday started to
restructure and verify membership of the party’s cells in the two
constituencies.
“We have embarked on a blitz to ensure that we start the
restructuring exercise, establishing cells in these two constituencies,” said
Cde Bimba.
“This exercise started yesterday (Friday) in earnest where
teams are going around to establish cells and also to verify membership of
these cells.
“Once we have authentic, credible and verified cell
registers, these then constitute our voters’ roll which will be used for the
primary elections come next Saturday.”
Cde Bimha encouraged Zanu PF members in the two
constituencies to participate in the registration exercise.
“The party is on record to say we do not impose candidates
and we encourage all our members to come forward and participate so that they
can exercise their right of choosing preferred candidates,” he said. Sunday
Mail
Cde Bimha said once the primary elections are done, the ruling party members should rally behind the winning candidate in campaigning ahead of April 27. Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment