CCC Nelson Chamisa has rejected the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) to Zimbabwe’s recommendation that aggrieved parties should approach courts to resolve disputes emanating from the 2023 Harmonised Elections.
The SEOM released its final report on Zimbabwe’s elections on Thursday, 12 October, and handed a copy to the Government of Zimbabwe.
Posting on X this Monday, 16 October, CCC’s self-proclaimed Change Champion in Chief said the opposition will not utilise domestic remedies, as recommended by SADC, saying they have proved incapable of resolving the “long-standing national crisis”. He wrote:
The SADC Final Report on Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Elections is a powerful affirmation of the consensus that exists among the majority of Zimbabweans (both rural and urban) that the conduct of the August 23 Elections flagrantly violated the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Electoral Laws and SADC Guidelines and Principles on Elections.
As the Report itself notes in its Recommendations and other sections, there are still outstanding recommendations from 2018 on the lack of impartiality of the key institutions.
In addition to this, the Report itself highlights a litany of very serious and brazen breaches which resulted in SEOM concluding that the Elections fell short of the standards highlighted above.
Given the above developments, based on the Report’s own findings, domestic remedies cannot be a credible response and are therefore clearly inadequate and incapable of resolving this long-standing national crisis.
For those reasons, the citizens of Zimbabwe will not rest until a permanent solution and lasting political settlement have been found to address all their long-standing political grievances, pursuant to achieving a just, stable, peaceful, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe.
No amount of bare denials, deflections, use of proxies, diversionary tactics, subterfuge and political side shows will take our eyes off the ball.
Citizens are entitled to be led by a government that truly reflects the will of the people having been chosen in a free, fair and credible election.
Our resolve is not shaken. Our Will can not be broken. The citizens will not be silenced. Our struggle is just and legitimate. It is a citizens’ project, a people’s struggle for majority rule!
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