Chamisa disengages CCC MPs from Parliament as political crisis worsens

Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has announced the disengagement of all party MPs and councillors from Parliament and councils until the issue of the controversial recalls of his members is resolved.

This comes after the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda this week announced vacancies for 15 parliamentary seats that were won by the CCC.

Mudenda endorsed a shadowy letter by Sengezo Tshabangu who is calling himself the CCC interim Secretary General.

The CCC argues that Tshabangu is not a member of the party hence he does not have the power to make any recall.

Addressing journalists after the CCC’s 18th Citizens National Assembly meeting on Wednesday in Harare, Chamisa said CCC MPs and councillors will disengage for 14 days.

If Mudenda fails to restore the recalled MPs within that time frame, Chamisa threatened to withdraw his MPs and councillors.

“Until this issue is resolved CCC MPs, and councillors will disengage from Parliament and Councils,” said Chamisa.

“When we say disengage, we do not mean that they have withdrawn, we are saying no business will be transacted until remedy and justice are done through the mechanism we have agreed.”

Chamisa added that the party will be engaging the international community including the Southern African Development Community (SADC) over the situation in Zimbabwe.

“We are putting on notice all key stakeholders including Civil Society, SADC, the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) that we have a constitutional crisis and a disputed election in Zimbabwe.

“We have disengaged but withdrawal is also on the cards and even plunging the country into a deeper crisis because we already have a constitutional crisis but there is going to be a worse one if there is no justice on the issues that are at play.

“We can’t allow the same tactic and the same trick to be used twice,” he added.

Zimbabwe held elections on the 23rd and 24th of August. The plebiscite, according to international observers, was marred by irregularities and fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

Incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa emerged as a winner with 52,6% against Chamisa’s 44%. The opposition leader rejected the result and called for a fresh election supervised by SADC.