admin
The Zanu-PF primary elections which the ruling party said were in fact a dress rehearsal of the forthcoming general elections have come and gone. The party has since elected individuals to represent it in the forthcoming harmonised elections that cover councils, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Presidency.
The ruling party has for the first time since independence allowed all party members to participate in the primaries as it moves to consolidate its internal democracy.
Individuals who met the minimum requirements to contest in the elections were allowed to do so as part of measures to come up with people’s choice candidates as opposed to imposing candidates as was the case in the past. The move was a litmus test especially for sitting councillors, MPs and Senators who were made to account for their performance hence some party big wigs fell by the wayside.
The party made it very clear from the onset that the primaries were an internal democratic process meant to assist the party to come up with the best candidates to represent it in the general elections and as such were not supposed to divide the party.
It is a fact that the primaries were a massive exercise given that Zanu-PF is a colossal political party and as such were bound to have teething problems.
The complaints that came from some constituencies were therefore expected and it was not a surprise that the party ordered a re-run of the elections in some of these constituencies.
The party will soon announce a list of its confirmed candidates that will represent the party in the general elections scheduled for between July and August but in most constituencies, party members now know who their representatives are.
Those that participated in the elections and lost as well as those that were disqualified have pledged their commitment to assist the ruling party win the plebiscite. This is as it should be because what is important is for the party to win the elections.
A number of those spoken to who participated in the elections and lost or were disqualified, said that they were more than prepared to join the campaign teams so that the ruling party romps to victory. The bigger challenge is winning the general elections and as already alluded to, the primaries were meant to assist the party come up with candidates to represent it in the general elections.
We believe after the primary elections, the party is now more united because everybody now knows that whoever won the primaries is the people’s choice.
The leadership of the party continues to emphasise the need to ensure peaceful campaigns ahead of the elections which after many years, will be witnessed by observers across the globe.
The massive turnout at some polling stations across the country during the primaries has already sent shivers down the spines of some opposition political parties that are already threatening to boycott the elections if some of their wild demands are not met.
We want to implore the ruling party’s campaign teams to heed the party leadership’s calls to refrain from engaging in violence as doing so will be playing into the hands of the enemy.
The opposition parties are afraid of elections and as such will find any excuse to discredit them hence the need for the ruling party supporters to exercise restraint. We want to once again implore the ruling party to prepare for the elections as one united family with the sole objective of winning the elections resoundingly.
Online Reporter