TRANSFORM Zimbabwe (TZ) yesterday vowed to continue demanding for respect of the MDC Alliance agreement, following revelations that MDC-T was planning to field candidates in constituencies allocated to other opposition parties.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Party leader Jacob Ngarivhume disclosed that TZ was allocated 19 seats, but the MDC-T was encroaching into its constituencies, leaving some constituencies in Matabeleland North and South provinces without representation.
Ngarivhume said the matter raised during TZ’s inaugural congress at the weekend was forwarded to other alliance partners. He said their participation should not be taken as lack of capacity to go it alone.
“TZ acknowledged the compromise made by the party in accepting a 19-seat allocation in the MDC Alliance,” Ngarivhume said.
“TZ congress raised a number of areas of concern regarding the operationalisation of the MDC Alliance. Chief among the issues raised by the delegates was the total absence of TZ seats in the three Matabeleland provinces.
“Also major among the concerns raised was the general disregard for the letter and spirit of the alliance agreement by the MDC-T through appointing candidates in constituencies earmarked for alliance partners. The alliance institutionalisation process has not progressed as agreed and there was a general sentiment that the Alliance was now heavily reliant on MDC-T party infrastructure,” he said.
Ngarivhume said delegates felt aggrieved at the marginalisation of the party in the allocation of urban parliamentary and council seats.
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He said even though they are committed to the agreement, their space must be respected.
“TZ affirms its commitment to the ideals of the alliance and wishes to enter the 2018 election as part of the alliance. However, that should not be mistaken for a lack of capacity in the party to go it alone in the undesirable situation where the alliance fails to hold for one reason or another,” he said.
The party then demanded the MDC-T to nullify all the primary election results for the constituencies allocated to TZ and make an unequivocal undertaking that there will be no MDC-T candidates contesting in seats allocated to other alliance partners.
He said other issues have been forwarded to the alliance’s principal forum for discussion.
