Buoyed by the results of the weekend by-elections in which the Nelson Chamisa-led Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) won 19 constituencies and several wards, the party says it is popular in the rural areas.
Speaking to journalists at a press conference in Harare on Monday, Chamisa said he is ready to show the ruling party that his party is popular with the rural electorate.
“This whole lie that the countryside belongs to Zanu PF is a fallacy, it’s a hoax, we are very strong in the rural areas, that is why people are intimidated, no majority party intimidates its own supporters, there is no violence that is used by strong people, weak people resorts to violence, that’s why Zanu PF instrument of choice in dealing with electorate and citizens is violence, because they are not supported particularly in the countryside,” said Chamisa.
He also bemoaned the manipulation of the electoral process by Zanu PF but vowed to win big in the 2023 harmonised elections.
“Had it not been for the conditions that are not free and biased in favour of Zanu PF, we would have scored over 25 of the 28. The people have done it, the citizens of Zimbabwe have done it. We moved from zero to 19 in parliament and I can tell you that in 2023 it’s going to be a whitewash. It going to be a big victory. We want to have two thirds majority in parliament. We want to turn the parliament yellow,” said Chamisa.
He also accused the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) of siding with the ruling party dismissing their claims that they had not received any complaints from CCC prior to the 26 March by-elections.
“We had problems with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) around issues to do with the voters roll, we still have the problems. Yes we have had a landslide but that does not move away from the fact that the elections in this country need fundamental reforms around the voters roll, the credibility of the voters roll, around making sure that results are managed in a better way and polling stations are not subjected to the violence, intimidation that we have seen,” added Chamisa.
Meanwhile, MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora has bullishly claimed that he will bounce back in future elections saying the party has previously come from a disadvantage.
“It’s not time yet to write the MDC epitaph. There are people who wish we were politically dead.
“The intention is to win elections in the future. We have come from a disadvantage before, and we will come from this disadvantage now,” said Mwonzora.
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