The opposition Zimbabwe Republicans Front (ZRF) party has endorsed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s candidature in the 23 August elections.
This comes only two weeks after ZRF castigated Mnangagwa’s Government and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for setting excessive candidate nomination fees.
According to CITE, on 07 June 2023, ZRF went public, soliciting well-wishers for donations to pay nomination fees for its candidates.
The little-known opposition party accused the Government and ZEC of violating their constitutional rights by setting exorbitant nomination fees.
However, in a surprising turn of events, ZRF endorsed Mnangagwa, claiming that the ZANU PF candidate has demonstrated during his tenure that he was on the right track.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, ZRF president Fanuel Lisenga said:
We arrived at this decision, not out of duress but after consulting our republicans and provincial leaders.
Provincial leaders voted among themselves who to support in the elections.We reached a consensus and will support President ED Mnangagwa.
Lisenga said he could not run for president since he was 39 years old, which was less than the constitutionally mandated age of 40. He said:
Provincial leaders chose between two candidates, that is one main opposition leader, which is Nelson Chamisa and President Mnangagwa from the ruling ZANU PF party to allow the democratic process to avail.
All 10 provinces voted and gave reasons why they chose the particular candidate.
In a nutshell, they said while Chamisa has a key and pivotal role to play in the future of Zimbabwe, he did not have experience in running the economy like Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa is a much more experienced and tested leader who has seen it all.
Some of the other reasons the provincial leaders highlighted were to look at the greater part of the five-year tenure about to end now.
The party said ED and his government managed to deliver and registered tangible progress in those five years until only a few months when economic saboteurs infringed on him.
The provincial leaders said civil servants’ salaries were actually on the right track but losing value because of the runaway inflation we are experiencing now.
He has brought in Foreign Direct Investment and infrastructure. They said ED, if not sabotaged and if sanctions were removed, can effectively deliver.
Earlier this week, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Zimbabwe announced that it will not field a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, instead, it will support Mnangagwa, citing shared Pan-African alliances with the ruling party.
According to Innocent Ndibali Sibanda, the president of the EFF in Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa is the only candidate who can ensure continuity in land expropriation without compensation and protect Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.
More: Pindula News
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