Opinion / Columnist
Losers imposed as winners
16 Jun 2023 at 08:05hrs | Views
In light of the dogged determination by Harare bigwigs to impose him, despite his crushing defeat in his bid to be CCC's local authority candidate for Ward 4 in Bulawayo, as their choice for the city's Mayor; it is apparent from @DavidColtart's quoted tweet below that he is referring to getting the signatures of registered voters in Ward 4 to nominate him for the @ZECzim nomination papers to send them to Harare ahead of the 21 June 2023 sitting of the Nomination Courts for candidate in the August harmonised general election.
The saga is proving to be an utter and complete embarrassment for everyone involved, given Coltart's wide margins of defeat in Ward 4 where Melissa Mabeza came first to win with 170 votes, and Last Chatororo came second with 74, while Coltart - who is Harare's choice for BUlawayo Mayor - came a distant third with a paltry 65 votes.
Says Coltart in his quoted tweet:
"In gathering signatures for nomination forms these past few days it has become increasingly apparent that @ZECzim has butchered the voters roll".
What signatures for nomination forms has Coltart been gathering in the last few days, when he came last in Ward 4's "community selection caucus"? How does a candidate who came last, gather signatures for nomination forms? Have the results of the "community caucus" been butchered?
In a last ditch ploy to rescue Coltart and others in a similar situation like him, CCC bigwigs have directed that the candidates who came first, second and third in the "community caucuses" should all complete and sign the ZEC nomination papers and send them to Harare for Advocate Nelson Chamisa to make the final decision before the papers are submitted to the Nomination Courts on 21 June.
The apparent objective of the sly move is twofold: first to enable losers like Coltart to be imposed as winners, and second to deny the snubbed and cheated winners like Melissa Mabeza the opportunity and time, if they so decide, to fill ZEC nominations papers to contest as independent candidates, which would risk dividing the CCC vote, and endanger the winning prospects for imposed candidates like Coltart.
In the circumstances, it might be wise for the cheated and dumped winners, who maybe contemplating running as independents, to complete their ZEC nomination papers and to be ready to file them at the 11th hour on 21 June, the nomination day, should that become necessary!
In gathering signatures for nomination forms these past few days it has become increasingly apparent that @ZECzim has butchered the voters roll. In just 1 Ward hundreds of citizens can't find their names of the roll - these are people who have voted for decades. Why #ZEC ?
— David Coltart (@DavidColtart) June 15, 2023
The saga is proving to be an utter and complete embarrassment for everyone involved, given Coltart's wide margins of defeat in Ward 4 where Melissa Mabeza came first to win with 170 votes, and Last Chatororo came second with 74, while Coltart - who is Harare's choice for BUlawayo Mayor - came a distant third with a paltry 65 votes.
Says Coltart in his quoted tweet:
"In gathering signatures for nomination forms these past few days it has become increasingly apparent that @ZECzim has butchered the voters roll".
In a last ditch ploy to rescue Coltart and others in a similar situation like him, CCC bigwigs have directed that the candidates who came first, second and third in the "community caucuses" should all complete and sign the ZEC nomination papers and send them to Harare for Advocate Nelson Chamisa to make the final decision before the papers are submitted to the Nomination Courts on 21 June.
The apparent objective of the sly move is twofold: first to enable losers like Coltart to be imposed as winners, and second to deny the snubbed and cheated winners like Melissa Mabeza the opportunity and time, if they so decide, to fill ZEC nominations papers to contest as independent candidates, which would risk dividing the CCC vote, and endanger the winning prospects for imposed candidates like Coltart.
In the circumstances, it might be wise for the cheated and dumped winners, who maybe contemplating running as independents, to complete their ZEC nomination papers and to be ready to file them at the 11th hour on 21 June, the nomination day, should that become necessary!
Source - Twitter
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