In an exclusive interview with The Guardian at the turn of the week, Olengurumwa said; “it is better for Ukawa leaders to declare failure in implementing the MoU they entered …by doing so they will give a room for other nomination procedures to proceed independently at the party levels instead of remaining at a deadlock at the coalition level.”
“Delaying to name the presidential candidate will cause the coalition to lose trust from its supporters,” he warned.
“Being silent will only create more tension and make the citizenry believe that opposition parties are weak and can’t beat the ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM),” he went on to caution.
Reached for comments, Economist from University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Dr Haji Semboja challenged the coalition saying it was formed to beat the ruling party and not for the development and welfare of the citizenry.
According to him, the Coalition has neither procedures nor regulations to guide the selection of their nominees unlike their main contestant CCM.
According to him, the Coalition has neither procedures nor regulations to guide the selection of their nominees unlike their main contestant CCM.
“The coalition has reached a critical situation which if the leaders are not keen on handling, they will end up fighting,” he cautioned.
“The Coalition may become very weak due to the delay in nominating its presidential candidate,” he went on to caution.
“As the situation is, it is very clear that each party in the coalition wants the presidential aspirant to come from its own party and this is a problem,” he added.
In a radio interview last week, Chadema’s spokesperson Tumaini Makene refuted claims that Ukawa is having trouble nominating their flag bearer, rather; “regular consultation and meetings are still underway,” he reassured followers.
“We are conducting things in accordance with our schedule,” he said “...it should be known that we are not behind time…everything will be completed soon,” he again reassured their followers.
In October last year, opposition parties that make up the Coalition for the People's Constitution (Ukawa) agreed to have a single candidate to run for the presidential post.
Reading contents of the signed document, Chadema’s Secretary General Dr Wilbroad Slaa said the parties have decided to sign the MoU ‘to fight for the people’s interest’ and on top of that, to mobilise the public to reject the proposed Constitution.
“The agreement will allow us to work together to consolidate the four political parties’ policies to better serve the interest of the people as one party and will ease ascension of a single candidate to represent the four parties in the upcoming General Election,” he explained.
The Coalition was expected to name its flag bearer last week however, deliberations hit a snag and James Mbatia, a co-chairperson of the coalition, informed the press that Ukawa will have a name within the next seven days.
The coalition convened a meeting on July 14 in Dar es Salam and was behind locked doors for hours as Chairpersons and general secretaries of the political parties forming Ukawa and members of its Technical Committee, the Ukawa Think Tank and the coalition’s Summit deliberated the matter.
Reports said the 26 new constituencies announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) stalled the Coalition’s decision as did the matter of legal requirement for the President and the Vice President aspirants to be from the same party.
The matter was of much contention since the coalition has several parties all vying to get a representative in one of the two top posts.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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