News / National
Tsvangirai ex-aide disqualified
17 Jun 2018 at 11:58hrs | Views
ZimFirst president Maxwell Shumba has vowed a bruising confrontation with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for blocking him from filing for state presidency this week.
Shumba is the former Premier the late Morgan Tsvangirai's aide.
The ZimFirst leader has rallied party supporters to demonstrate against ZEC after the rejection of his nomination on the grounds that his nominees were not on the voters roll.
The planned demonstration comes after the MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa led a similar demonstration in the capital city calling for electoral reforms.
"My nomination was rejected by ZEC on the grounds that the party members who nominated me from Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Mashonaland West could not be found on the voters roll," Shumba said in a statement.
Shumba is insisting that ZimFirst nominating members are registered voters in possession of voting slips with ZEC.
He slammed the elections management board for presiding over a "shambolic" voters' roll.
"We are appalled and angry that a voters' roll that cannot reconcile its data base and voting slips issued from the same system was used to reject our nomination
"Worse the Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central members were in okay at the respective provincial nomination centres," Shumba said.
He ominously warned that the opposition party is not taking the nomination rejection lying down.
"This is a national issue that touches all democracy loving citizens.
"Zimbabweans cannot go into elections with a voters' roll that is in shambles, hence we declare that the Zimbabwe 2018 election is an outright sham and is an attempt to defraud the citizens of Zimbabwe of their human right opportunity to elect leaders of their choice
"ZimFirsters today are mourning and if this is allowed to go unchecked more Zimbabweans will be crying come July 30, 2018," he said.
He added that the party is going to petition ZEC on the issued voting slips as evidence to demonstrate why the current ZEC voters is a sham and should not have been used to reject his nomination.
"If we are unsuccessful with the petition we will take ZEC to court.
"We will fight for a fair process. It is our given right," he said.
Shumba is the former Premier the late Morgan Tsvangirai's aide.
The ZimFirst leader has rallied party supporters to demonstrate against ZEC after the rejection of his nomination on the grounds that his nominees were not on the voters roll.
The planned demonstration comes after the MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa led a similar demonstration in the capital city calling for electoral reforms.
"My nomination was rejected by ZEC on the grounds that the party members who nominated me from Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Mashonaland West could not be found on the voters roll," Shumba said in a statement.
Shumba is insisting that ZimFirst nominating members are registered voters in possession of voting slips with ZEC.
He slammed the elections management board for presiding over a "shambolic" voters' roll.
"We are appalled and angry that a voters' roll that cannot reconcile its data base and voting slips issued from the same system was used to reject our nomination
"Worse the Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central members were in okay at the respective provincial nomination centres," Shumba said.
He ominously warned that the opposition party is not taking the nomination rejection lying down.
"This is a national issue that touches all democracy loving citizens.
"Zimbabweans cannot go into elections with a voters' roll that is in shambles, hence we declare that the Zimbabwe 2018 election is an outright sham and is an attempt to defraud the citizens of Zimbabwe of their human right opportunity to elect leaders of their choice
"ZimFirsters today are mourning and if this is allowed to go unchecked more Zimbabweans will be crying come July 30, 2018," he said.
He added that the party is going to petition ZEC on the issued voting slips as evidence to demonstrate why the current ZEC voters is a sham and should not have been used to reject his nomination.
"If we are unsuccessful with the petition we will take ZEC to court.
"We will fight for a fair process. It is our given right," he said.
Source - newzimbabwe
