The majority of CCC legislators have no intention of following Mr Nelson Chamisa who resigned from the opposition party last week.
While there were expectations that Mr Chamisa’s resignation from CCC would open floodgates of resignations, only a few legislators have expressed their intention to follow him with the majority, who include Mr Richard Tsvangirai, son to the MDC founder, the late Morgan Tsvangirai, saying they will remain in the party.
Mr Tsvangirai, who is MP for Norton Constituency, made it clear yesterday that he will not be resigning from his position saying people in his constituency had requested that he and the councillors remain in office.
“Today, we met as Norton residents to deliberate on the resignation of Adv Nelson Chamisa from CCC. The residents have agreed to stand with Adv Nelson Chamisa.
“However, Norton agreed that their deployees, the MP and the councillors, are doing a great job and should remain in Parliament and council and continue executing their constitutional mandate while waiting for Adv Nelson Chamisa to announce the next step, as he promised in his statement.”
In yet another blow to the embattled former CCC leader, his long-time ally and Marondera Central MP, Mr Caston Matewu, yesterday publicly rejected the idea of resigning from Parliament.
“Many in my inbox asking if I am resigning from Parliament. Not at the moment my friends. Thank you!” Mr Matewu posted on his official X account.
In response to Mr Chamisa’s sudden resignation, Mr Agency Gumbo, Member of Parliament for Hatcliffe Constituency, has made it clear that he will not rush to follow suit without first consulting his constituents.
“This whole week I shall be meeting with various groups in my constituency to explain president Chamisa’s communiqué and the implications on the party which they voted for. Having openly stated my agreement with Prez (president) Chamisa on the issues he raised, I shall also be consulting my constituents on the several options available to us at the moment.
“Our next steps must be strategic and collective. We must quickly resolve the questions of the day and refocus our efforts to winning State power.”
Harare Mayor Clr Jacob Mafume told The Herald last week that he will stand with the people who elected him into office and will follow whatever the CCC leadership, which will replace Mr Chamisa, says.
“The direction will come from the collective leadership of the party that will be announced to run CCC, until that time we will remain carrying the mandate that we were elected to do by the people of Harare,” Mayor Mafume said.
This is the shared view among CCC parliamentarians who are angry with their former leader who jumped ship without consulting them.
Thus, the majority of CCC legislators have been left confused and uncertain following Mr Chamisa’s surprise resignation,.
Reacting to the latest refusal by CCC legislators to resign, Political Commentator Mr Kudzai Mutisi said: “No sane person will resign from their job to follow a man seeking to feed his fragile ego by dragging everyone into a quagmire with him . . . more so a man with no known plan and an incompetent one.”
A number of CCC legislators have expressed their frustration with Mr Chamisa’s unilateral decision-making, which they see as dictatorial and have vowed to stay in Parliament or local authorities to see out their terms.
