Opposition MPs boycott Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation address
CCC, led by its Chief Whip, Amos Chibaya, avoided attending the President’s national address saying they could not "listen to an illegitimate leader speaking to people who didn't elect him constitutionally and lawfully."
Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislators have boycotted President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation address in the new Parliament building while accusing the Zanu-PF leader of benefitting from rigged elections last month.
Mnangagwa on Tuesday officially opened the 10th Parliament which was ushered in by the recently held plebiscite whose outcome was disputed due to irregularities including but not limited to late ballot delivery and voter intimidation and suppression.
CCC, led by its Chief Whip, Amos Chibaya, avoided attending the President’s national address saying they could not “listen to an illegitimate leader speaking to people who didn’t elect him constitutionally and lawfully.”
“We are not attending Mnangagwa’s state-of-the-nation address today because we view him as an illegitimate leader who was fraudulently elected through manipulation.
“He is a product of an election in which there was massive voter suppression in urban areas, disenfranchisement and illegal intervention in the electoral process by FAZ (a Zimbabwean intelligence-run securocratic outfit which managed the elections).
“We can’t attend Parliament to listen to an illegitimate leader speaking to people who didn’t elect him constitutionally and lawfully,” Chibaya said.
The Zimbabwean election held on August 23 and 24 was marred by massive irregularities which led to regional and international observers condemning it for failing to meet requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), European Union (EU) and the United States (US) among others condemned the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for failing to institute a free, fair and credible election.
The EU went on to withdraw its three-year financial support to the ZEC, worth US$5 million, citing that the electoral process was full of flaws.
“The project supporting ZEC, which is managed by UNDP and scheduled to run until December 2024, is currently under scrutiny due to concerns raised by several international electoral observation missions (EOMs) regarding the independence and transparency of ZEC during the 2023 harmonised elections.
“The recent preliminary statements from multiple EOMs, including the EU EOM, have raised concerns about ZEC’s management of the electoral process, particularly regarding its independence and transparency,” the EU said in a statement.
