UNELECTED opposition CCC leader Mr Nelson Chamisa will hand-pick candidates for this year’s harmonised election in yet another unpopular move that his team has slated as undemocratic.
Some in the party said Mr Chamisa’s decision to forego primary elections confirms his dictatorial tendencies and absence of internal democracy within CCC.
Speaking during a press conference in Harare yesterday, hand-picked CCC spokesperson Advocate Fadzai Mahere said their party would be hand-picking candidates.
Currently receiving a backlash for failing to come up with structures, Adv Mahere said the CCC had decided to do away with primary elections for fear of infiltration.
Further, she said (unelected leaders) will choose candidates through a consultative process that will result in consensus.
“What I wish to emphasise at this stage is that following feedback that we received about how candidates for this new movement should be selected, it was concluded based on what the citizens fed back to us. Citizens want to be able to select their candidates for themselves, something we have dubbed community consensus candidate selection processes.
“At the appropriate time it is going to be launched so that every community will be able to know how they will be able to plug in but what I can assure you is, it’s a watertight process that will ensure that your voices are heard and that will guard against security matters.”
The revelation comes as some aspiring candidates have reportedly already imposed themselves in constituencies.
Last year, the party’s secretary-general Charlton Hwende and vice-president Professor Welshman Ncube separately signed nomination court papers for their respective preferred candidates.
The party, which was formed last year, continues to adopt a trail of undemocratic practices and has been accused of failing the test of candidate selection, which is a universal democratic practice. – The Herald
