Political parties in Zimbabwe have been urged to put in place effective processes to deal with internal conflicts in order to prevent the running of double candidates in elections. This was said by political analyst, Effie Ncube while speaking to members of the media and political party representatives at a meeting hosted by MISA-Zimbabwe in Bulawayo recently.
According to Ncube, political parties lack robust internal mechanisms that govern competition, allowing for the formation of dual candidates.
“There should be rules speaking to what a free and fair election means within the political party. It then becomes difficult to have free and fair elections in a country where primary elections are not free and fair. If political parties cannot hold free and fair elections internally, there is no way they can hold them at national level. The absence of institutions to help a democratic competition at primary level is the reason why we have multiple candidates.”
Another factor contributing to double candidates, according to Ncube, is political parties’ failure to hold primary elections on time. The political analyst also stated that parties must organise their primary elections in advance so that if problems arise as a result of competition, they have enough time to resolve the concerns.
Zanu PF Bulawayo Provincial Spokesperson, Archibald Chiponda, claimed the ruling party has robust mechanisms in place hence the party has never had challenges of double candidacy.
“We have a constitution that clearly governs our election processes. That is why you find that our party does not have double candidates. What is important is to have robust mechanisms within the party to enforce your rules and internal institutions. They can be there on paper but if they are not enforced then the regulations would not be adhered to,” Chiponda said.
“Our party has robust mechanisms to deal with such issues. This is why you find that even the nation pays serious attention to our primary elections. The conflict resolution mechanisms are so guided during our internal electoral processes. This is why you come across such headlines as some bigwigs have been knocked out, no matter how big you are in Zanu PF you just have to adhere to the rules and regulations.”
Source CITE
