Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has reiterated that his party’s candidate selection process for the upcoming harmonized elections will be decided by the citizens.
The movement since its formation last year CCC has hinted that it will do away with primary elections to choose local government, national assembly and senatorial representatives, a move that has been met with mixed feelings from citizens.
Posting on Twitter on Tuesday, Chamisa restated that unlike in the 2018 elections where votes were split after the party fielded double candidates in some constituencies, this time they had designed a sophisticated way of dealing with such problems.
“Citizens representatives for Members of Parliament and Councillors. The candidate selection process and procedures manual aligns with our citizenocracy- citizens at the centre and citizens first. Citizens shall choose the best in terms of integrity, honour, merit, capacity, accountability, accessibility and visibility.
“In line with the request from you the citizens, we are putting emphasis on your participation and choices. No imposition of candidates. The power is with you the citizens. Where there are ties between candidates, citizens will be expected decide on their own the best candidate,” said Chamisa.
Meanwhile, the party has set tough conditions for selection of candidates into local authorities, Parliament and Senate.
According to an internal party document titled, ‘Citizens And Community Consensus Candidate Selection Procedures’, relevant professional qualifications will be a prerequisite for candidates willing to stand for mayoral, parliamentary committee and council chairperson positions.
Mayors, deputy mayors, council chairpersons and committee chairpersons at both Local Government and Parliamentary levels would also undergo an “aptitude” test to assess their ability to take the leadership positions.
Parliamentary candidates should be able to read and interpret legislation and national policies, while council candidates must have the ability to read and interpret council legislation, administrative by-laws, and policies, according to the party guidelines.
