"Political Parties Cannot Work Without Structures," "It Could Be End Of The Road For Chamisa" - Moyo, Mandaza
Former Information Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has reiterated that political parties without structures and a constitution cannot survive. He made these comments in response to Nelson Chamisa’s departure from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), where he served as the leader. Chamisa had adopted a strategy known as “strategic ambiguity” to prevent infiltration by the ruling ZANU PF party, but Moyo argues that this lack of organisation and clear guidelines led to problems within the opposition party. Moyo emphasizes that a political party cannot function effectively without proper structures and a constitution. He said:
Anyone anywhere who at any time comes up with a political party with no structures and with no constitution, or who makes himself or herself the structure and constitution of the party is his or her own worst enemy. Of course, people can come up with as many ghosts or strawman arguments as they want to explain away their own culpability, but while a structureless and constitutionless formation may work for a cultic church, it can never work for a political party. Never ever. As a matter of fact, there’s nothing as easily infiltratable as a structureless and constitutionless political party, especially one that claims to be officerless and memberless. A political party like that can never meet the most basic elements of a democratic or progressive formation!
On the other hand, Ibbo Mandaza, an academic, suggests that Chamisa’s departure from the CCC could mark the end of his political career. Mandaza said:
It (his departure) means that Chamisa needs to introspect in the first instance, before he throws another flag. More importantly, he must learn to understand that the opposition in Zimbabwe is bigger than one person and requires broad consultations and cooperation. Unless he does this, it’s virtually the end of the road for him. He won’t be the first nor the last in the history of opposition politics in general.
Chamisa has stated that he will be launching a broad Citizens Movement soon whose form will be determined by the outcome of the consultations that will emerge with various stakeholders.
