Opinion / Columnist
Chamisa's options for by-elections
16 Jan 2022 at 18:16hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE'S main opposition MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa — who is hugely popular and got over two million votes in the 2018 presidential election — is caught between a rock and a hard place ahead of crucial by-elections on 26 March.
Nomination is on 26 January.
Chamisa faces three difficult options: To contest as MDC-Alliance and clash in the process with the MDC-T which has announced it will field candidates under the same name amid their continued cutthroat wrangling; change name and rebrand or boycott the elections.
All these options have grave political costs and potentially devastating consequences, but the first one carries the day.
CHAMISA'S OPTIONS FOR BY-ELECTIONS:
(i) Contesting the 26 March 2022 by-elections as the MDC-Alliance under Nelson Chamisa. This carries a serious risk of confusion and chaos as the MDC-T under Douglas Mwonzora are claiming to be also the MDC-Alliance, ultimately risking a Zec or court ban;
(ii) New name, logo and rebranding: Contesting under a new party name, logo and brand/profile offers a fresh start a lot of the MDC-Alliance bigwigs want this, but they are mistaken as that is precisely the Mwonzora and Mnangagwa strategy; or
(iii) Boycotting the by-elections altogether, which is an easy way out of the mess;
(iv) Given all this the best option is: The first option insisting and persisting as the MDC-Alliance no matter what. Anything the MDC-T and Zanu-PF do to the MDC-Alliance under this strategy backfires and benefits Chamisa. Anything other than this puts the MDC-Alliance under destructive pressure and a losing position; and
(v) Why: If the MDC-Alliance go head-to-head with the MDC-T pretending to be also MDC-Alliance, Mwonzora and his allies are doomed. If they ban the MDC-Alliance in desperation, Chamisa wins; he rebrands and then properly crushes Mwonzora and perhaps Mnangagwa in 2023 the whole plot fails dismally.
Nomination is on 26 January.
Chamisa faces three difficult options: To contest as MDC-Alliance and clash in the process with the MDC-T which has announced it will field candidates under the same name amid their continued cutthroat wrangling; change name and rebrand or boycott the elections.
All these options have grave political costs and potentially devastating consequences, but the first one carries the day.
CHAMISA'S OPTIONS FOR BY-ELECTIONS:
(ii) New name, logo and rebranding: Contesting under a new party name, logo and brand/profile offers a fresh start a lot of the MDC-Alliance bigwigs want this, but they are mistaken as that is precisely the Mwonzora and Mnangagwa strategy; or
(iii) Boycotting the by-elections altogether, which is an easy way out of the mess;
(iv) Given all this the best option is: The first option insisting and persisting as the MDC-Alliance no matter what. Anything the MDC-T and Zanu-PF do to the MDC-Alliance under this strategy backfires and benefits Chamisa. Anything other than this puts the MDC-Alliance under destructive pressure and a losing position; and
(v) Why: If the MDC-Alliance go head-to-head with the MDC-T pretending to be also MDC-Alliance, Mwonzora and his allies are doomed. If they ban the MDC-Alliance in desperation, Chamisa wins; he rebrands and then properly crushes Mwonzora and perhaps Mnangagwa in 2023 the whole plot fails dismally.
Source - newshawks
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