Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has explained why the party’s winning candidates for council and parliamentary seats are taking their oaths of office, even though the party initially called for a rerun of the August 23 elections.
There was speculation and some suggestions that CCC should refuse to occupy seats in parliament and municipal offices as a form of protest against the perceived unfairness of the August 23 polls. Critics argued that participating in these institutions would be seen as hypocritical and an implicit endorsement of the elections they deemed flawed.
However, Chamisa clarified that the swearing-in of CCC members as legislators and councillors should not be misconstrued as a validation of an illegitimate election. He emphasized that his party had already conveyed its rejection of the election results, specifically the victory of Emmerson Mnangagwa as President of Zimbabwe, to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Chamisa further stressed that the number of attendees at Mnangagwa’s inauguration ceremony did not confer legitimacy upon him as the president. Instead, he articulated that the CCC’s primary goal was to address the ongoing issues surrounding Zimbabwe’s elections comprehensively. To achieve this, Chamisa advocated for a political agreement on various reforms, including institutional, electoral, and constitutional changes. These reforms would need to encompass the entities responsible for overseeing elections in Zimbabwe.
“Well, the issue of being sworn in has nothing to do with credibility of the election. The bottom line and the fundamental position is that it is a flawed election. We reject the outcome of that election and we would want the elections in Zimbabwe to be finally dealt with so that we do not have disputes and contestations election in, election out and for that to happen we need a political arrangement, a political agreement on the reforms. Institutional reforms, electoral reforms, constitutional reforms and some extent these reforms have to speak to institutions that are going to superintendent the issue of elections in Zimbabwe going forward. But as for now we have said we do not accept that Mr Mnangagwa is the legitimate president of Zimbabwe. It is within our right and we have already indicated to ZEC. That’s why we did not sign and that’s why we did not agree. It does not matter how many people come to the inauguration. It’s a sham inauguration out of a sham election and it remains so,” Chamisa explained.
