Political Reporter
In a surprising turn of events, winning legislators from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) are reportedly unhappy with their party leader, Nelson Chamisa's directive to dismiss the just-ended elections as flawed and refuse to be recognized as winners.
The dissatisfaction comes despite Chamisa's insistence that CCC should collectively reject the election results, claiming they were "shambolic."
An inside source revealed that a number of victorious CCC legislators strongly oppose Chamisa's directive.
"They are frustrated because they invested substantial resources, money, and time into their individual campaigns to secure their wins," the source stated.
According to the source, the legislators argue that Chamisa's failure to win the presidential seat should not be grounds for undermining their individual successes.
"The sentiment among these legislators is that Chamisa has no moral authority to tell them to reject their hard-fought victories, especially considering they funded their election campaigns independently without any financial aid from the party," the source added.
The same source added that clandestine caucus meetings were being held among CCC legislators who triumphed in the recent elections, and they have agreed to resist Chamisa's attempts to prevent them from taking their parliamentary seats.
"The legislators feel betrayed. They argue they can't afford to fund another election campaign, given that their coffers are already exhausted from the previous campaign," said the source.
Rifts within the CCC appear to be widening at an alarming rate, and insiders warn that a significant break in that party is imminent should Chamisa continue with his directives.
"The legislators are questioning the logic behind refusing to acknowledge victories they believe were fairly won. They argue that demanding a fresh election would be impractical and a waste of resources," the source stated.
The source revealed that the contentious issue was going to see a number of legislators-elect being axed by Chamisa.
“This is the reason why Fadzayi (Mahere) was relieved of his spokesperson’s post. She was heard vowing that she would not comply with the directive considering the money she poured in her campaign. So the president (Chamisa) got wind of this and was not amused resulting in him relegating Fadzie to the terraces,” said the source.
Political analyst, Getrude Muchenje said that if Chamisa persisted with his call for all CCC legislators and councillors to dismiss the entire results of the recent elections, it could lead to irreversible divisions within the party, with the possibility of splinter groups forming.
Efforts to reach CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi for a comment were unsuccessful as his mobile phones were unreachable at the time of reporting.
