Farirai Machivenyika-Herald Senior Reporter
The ruling ZANU PF party has achieved a significant milestone by attaining a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly of Zimbabwe following by-elections held in six constituencies on Saturday.
Zanu PF now holds 190 of the 280 seats in the National Assembly, surpassing the 187 seats required to hold a two-thirds majority
The six constituencies are Chegutu West Cdes (Wellington Timburwa), Seke (Munyaradzi Kashambe), Goromonzi South (Washington Zhanda), Mkoba North (Edgar Ncube), Pelandaba-Tshabalala (Joseph Tshuma), and Zvimba East (Kudakwashe Mananzva).
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Chief Elections Officer Mr Utloile Silaigwana confirmed the results yesterday.
“I can confirm that the ruling Zanu PF party won all the six constituencies where by-elections were held. The party also won 20 of the 23 Wards that were contested while three were won by the opposition.
“The ruling party had also won five other constituencies uncontested after the removal from the ballot of candidates that had registered under the CCC following the ruling by the High Court,” he said.
Zanu PF Political Commissar Dr Mike Bimha said the revolutionary party was pleased with the outcome of the by-elections.
“We had predicted the same (the victory), talking about Zanu PF romping to victory come February 3. This is because of several factors. First of all, if you recall that when we were campaigning during the August 23 (2023) harmonised elections we said we were not moving around talking about a manifesto, we had done well in terms of the economy and therefore, the Government had performed well and as a result, we had an overwhelming victory for the President in the August 2023, harmonised elections. So, this was just more of a carryover from that. We were not talking about a new manifesto, but talking about the performance of our Government.
“There are things that people can touch which demonstrates performance and this against a very hostile external environment when it comes to sanctions imposed against this country, despite that we are one of the fastest growing economies in the region and that in itself is a manifestation of a performance-focused Zanu PF Government.”
Dr Bimha commended the President for his leadership.
“We would like to congratulate the President for his leadership, it is one of those factors which contributed to our victory, but there is also another factor which has contributed to our victory which is the leadership itself. As you can see, the President has managed to unify the party, to unify the various parts of the country and this is against the confusion that you see in other parties. So, his leadership has been very exemplary, his leadership has also assisted in people having a view that this is a party of the moment, this is a party of the future and this is the leadership that will drive the country towards Vision 2030,” Dr Bimha said
He also said Zanu PF was an organised party with clearly defined roles for its members.
“The party itself is a solid party, with very clear structures and because of that people are very clear of the various roles that they play in the party so the structures in the party are very intact, the Women’s League, the Youth League, the War Veterans League even at the provincial level, district and cell level.
“So, we have a very solid party with solid structures and that in itself contributed to people having a positive perspective of Zanu PF as a party,” he said.
Dr Bimha said people had also realised that there was no viable alternative to Zanu PF given the chaos in the CCC that resulted in the recalls which prompted by-elections.
“This can be seen in the number of returnees from the MDC, the CCC, and also the mushrooming of a number of affiliates coming on board, supporting the President and his stance on economic development, and that in itself has contributed to the popularity of the party,” Dr Bimha said.
He reiterated that Zanu PF would remain ready for any election or by-election.
Following the harmonised elections held in August last year, the ruling party won 136 of the 210 contested constituencies while the CCC won 73 seats.
Zanu PF also won 33 of the 60 proportional representation women’s seats and seven of the 10 youth seats while the CCC won 27 of the women’s proportional seats and three youths’ seats.
Following the by-elections held in 10 constituencies last year necessitated by the death and recalls of MPs by the CCC, Zanu PF increased its contested seats to 144, which it has increased to 150 following Saturday’s elections, while the opposition party’s total has decreased to 60.
After adding the seats for the women’s and youth’s quotas, Zanu PF now has 190 seats while the CCC has 90.
Political analyst, Mr Goodwine Mureriwa said Zanu PF’s victory was predictable and was a sign of unity within the party.
“Zanu PF’s sweeping victory was predictable and added more critical seats to those it won in the August 23, 2023 harmonised elections and December 9, 2023 by-elections. The unity and collective focus on power consolidation by the party enabled massive mobilisation that has yielded the lucrative two-thirds majority in Parliament.
“It therefore means that the ruling party is adequately equipped to sustain national ideology and make laws that enable the Government to accelerate the development agenda of the New Dispensation. The notable reality of increased confidence of urbanites in supporting Central Government’s recent intervention to clean -up cities amid the outbreak of cholera and other water-borne diseases have seriously exposed the corruption and incompetence of most opposition councillors.
“Certainly, going forward the majority of progressive Zimbabweans will support Government policies that are in keeping with Vision 2030,” he said.
SOURCE: herald.co.zw
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