ZANU PF and MDC Alliance are in for a rude awakening as the MDC-T is poised to grab the majority of seats in the coming parliamentary and local council by-elections, MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora has predicted.
He was responding Monday to a question from the media on how he predicted the MDC-T would fare at the by-elections to replace most MPs and councillors who were recalled by the MDC-T.
“The very first person to talk about by-elections was the national chairperson (Morgen Komichi) and he said we are ready for those by-elections,” Mwonzora said.
“I know that people have written a political obituary for us and we want to say that people are in for a surprise. We are a party that is solid, we are a party that is strategic.”
The Manicaland Senator told journalists the MDC-T was not yet conducting primaries because no-one knew dates for by-elections yet. He predicted by-elections would not be held this year.
Zanu PF and MDC Alliance have already started the process of selecting candidates to replace officials recalled by the MDC-T.
A few were also recalled by the ruling party while some seats are vacant after the public officials died.
“Maybe they know the date of the by-elections. We do not and when we know the dates, we will do our things.
“Unlike Zanu PF, unlike the MDC Alliance, we are preparing for an extraordinary congress and because of that, we do not want to mix the two processes.
“We do not think elections will be held this year because of the operation of the statutory instrument and, therefore, we are concentrating on our congress.”
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga who also doubles as the Health Minister recently gazetted Statutory Instrument (SI 225A/2020) suspending the holding of any by-election.
However, the decision has been deemed unconstitutional by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) and Parliament.
Chiwenga had suspended them on grounds he was promoting public health due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Credit: New Zimbabwe
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