Chamisa's CCC leadership meets

THE Citizens Coalitions for Change (CCC) leadership is meeting today to deliberate on the way forward after the party was barred from participating in Saturday's by-election which saw Zanu-PF winning seven of the vacant nine National Assembly seats.

The ruling party also gained four council seats, three in Bulawayo and one in Masvingo, in the elections marred by poor voter turnout.

The by-elections were called after self-imposed CCC interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu recalled several legislators and councillors elected in the August 23 to 24 harmonised elections.

The main CCC faction led by Nelson Chamisa successfully renominated the recalled MPs and councillors, but Tshabangu applied to the High Court to have them removed from the ballot paper. His application was granted and the candidates failed to participate in the by-elections.

The situation has reportedly thrust the opposition party in a dilemma on the way forward as some party members are reportedly mobilising for withdrawal from Parliament in protest over the electoral fisaco.

In an interview with NewsDay, CCC organising secretary Amos Chibaya said the party's national assembly would meet in the capital to discuss the way forward.

"The citizens national assembly  is going to meet tomorrow (today) in the capital. This is where we are going to come up with a decision we are going to take and we are going to call a Press conference after the meeting," he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement following announcement of the by-election results, CCC national spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said the party took all necessary measures for its party members to participate in the weekend polls.

"The just ended Zanu-PF masterminded by-elections gave the full picture of the regime's brazen determination to undermine democracy, shred the Constitution and deny citizens their inalienable right to vote for representatives of their choice," he said.

"The ill-fated elections are a sham as evidenced by an unprecedented low voter turnout and unusually high number of spoilt ballots both signalling the people's anger and growing impatience with the regime's shenanigans."

Mkwananzi also said the party took all necessary legal steps to ensure the inclusion of its candidates on the ballot in the by-elections.

"It is sad that more than 40 years after independence citizens have to approach the courts to be on the ballot paper and actually be denied that effectively denying citizens the choice to vote for the removed candidates," he said, adding that CCC would file a formal complaint with the Judicial Service Commission.

In October this year, CCC ordered all its parliamentarians and councillors to temporarily disengage from Parliament and local authority business, pursuant to a resolution of citizens national assembly on the recalls.