Zanu PF and the MDC-T formations should put national, as well as their rank and file members’ interests ahead of those of a few ambitious senior party cadres. The provision of a President, who chooses his or her running mate to succeed him/her by completing the President’s term in case of a premature exit from office, is meant to ensure stable successions, and avoid unnecessary costly elections. I listened with disbelief last Monday as Zanu PF spokesmen seemed to suggest that this arrangement may threaten the President’s life.
The exact opposite is in fact true! Those who argue for continuing with the current position, where a destabilising and costly election has to be held within three months of a Presidential incumbent leaving office before expiry of his/her term, may have a retrogressive if not sinister agenda. They should not be allowed to carry the day.
Across the party lines, the Parliamentarians must rise to the defence of Copac on this subject, an arrangement that has served the US for decades, and very recently Ghana and Malawi, well. The provision, which in a modified form, is also in the Zambian Constitution, encourages Presidential aspirants to choose running mates that are also vote catchers in their own right, as opposed to the current practice that promotes and rewards blind loyalty over substance.
Painona
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For now, only Zanu PF or MDC-T have a chance of winning next year’s presidential poll. The rest will only end up as “also ran”. If they can’t assess their chances of winning then they are chancers, they are out of touch with grassroots. It’s like expecting to find ice-cream in hell. Save time and money.
Tsveruka
