The coalition of Zimbabwean opposition parties led by Nelson Chamisa is reportedly on the brink of a split after being rocked by tensions over the list of people to stand as candidates for the forthcoming polls.
According to New Zimbabwe.com, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Tendai Biti has expressed anger over the the manner in which primary elections were handled.
PDP claimed that it was “hoodwinked and taken for fools by those who think they own the electorate simple because they have a leader who is youthful”.
The party’s Harare province said that The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) led by Chamisa failed to keep its promise to allow alliance partners to run for parliamentary seats uncontested by its members in some constituencies.
“As the PDP led by Adv. Tendai Biti, we have noticed with great disgust the manner in which we have been treated in the MDC Alliance by members of the MDC-T led by Nelson Chamisa. We will not stand for it.”
“MDC-T (Chamisa) promised to stay away from constituencies that our members would be taking part in. However, this is not what is happening on the ground,” PDP was quoted as saying.
PDP threatened to withdraw its support from the MDC Alliance if its grievances were not “immediately addressed”.
This came amid reports that some of the MDC-T Alliance bigwigs were on the verge of losing their parliamentary seats.
According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, most of the MDC-T senior leaders lost in the primary elections, which were “marred by violence and vote rigging”. – News24
