Aspiring Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidates are required to prove their loyalty to God, as part of the party’s stringent selection procedure.
As part of the vetting process, which is the second stage in the candidate nomination process, aspiring candidates are expected to prove their community involvement, political history, competence and credibility.
What has set tounges wagging are some of the sections in the Credentials and Track Record form CS100D.
Nominees have to among other requirements demonstrate their loyalty to the organisation, the country and the Creator.
Party leader Nelson Chamisa, who presented the three page nomination form stated that candidate credentials and track records will be thoroughly and meticulously scrutinised.
“The doctrine of strategic ambiguity and a structureless structure are working very well,” he posted on Twitter.
Chamisa claimed elements who were used to infiltrating the opposition would struggle to do so.
“The other side’s investment in infiltration is huge, they are quaking and sweating. The candidate credentials and track record vetting will be thorough and meticulous,” he said.
However, CCC’s selection procedure has raised significant concerns about its suitability and applicability to the nominated candidates.
“How can the selection be community based if the candidate has to prove loyalty to a creator?
Shouldn’t the loyalty be to the community?” asked political analyst Patrick Ndlovu.
Ndlovu said the party’s candidate selection process exposed how obsessed with power the CCC leadership was.
“The selection process is a creation of a megalomaniac mind of the same breed as Idi Amin or Mobutu Sese Seko,” he claimed, adding the party was trying to deceive people as if their input mattered.
“It’s a deception of the electorate by pretending to involve them in candidate selection. They have realised that people are unhappy with the calibre of their candidates and are trying to hoodwink people by pretending to involve them in their internal processes. Honestly, how can a non-member be involved in an internal selection of an entity?”
Another social scientist, Emmanuel Sibanda, questioned how those who were not members of the CCC prior to their ‘supposed’ selection by community members can demonstrate their commitment to the party.
“Have these issues been spelt out by the party or the party expects people to say they support the party leadership as a way of showing loyalty. This needs to be explained further because it is confusing even the part where it says how do you prove loyalty to the country? Is that paying tax because you can pay tax yet be unhappy about it,” he said.
Sibanda added that the way the CCC kept a tight lid on its operations or avoided constructive criticism caused people to be “petty” and question whatever “progressive idea” the opposition party came up with.
On the other hand, critical studies scholar, Dr Khanyile Mlotshwa was of the opinion that a tough candidate selection process was beneficial in the long run, as it would produce deserving candidates.
“While it is clearly a survival strategy on the part of CCC that is to counter infiltration and all, it may turn out to benefit society. For many years we have had elected officials who are there because they are loyal to some leader of some faction but are not fit to lead anywhere, even a grade one classroom,” he said.
Dr Mlotshwa said CCC had emphasised that the focus was on the community and community engagement is what was more important in its selection criteria than academic qualifications.
“It is time political parties put forward aspiring leaders with a reputable track record working for the community,” he noted.
“The criteria we see set on the forms are Chamisa’s values. Why not give him the constitutional right to exercise them.”
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