Opposition leader, Herbert Chamuka says he has changed his party’s name following an alleged attempted coup within his Ideas Party of Democracy (IPD) outfit that left him ousted as its president.
Chamuka told 263Chat that he has since approached the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to register another party, the People’s Unity Party (PUP) while snubbing his old outfit.
The South African based businessman cum politician said some people were wrestling him for power and control of the party.
“Yes, it is true that the IPD has changed its name to People’s Unity Party and this is due to internal squabbles which saw some people taking our papers fraudulently hence became signatories to some private information.
“So instead of fighting over party names and control of the party, we decided to come up with a new party but I’m very confident that we will retain our support base,” Chamuka said.
His IPD outfit, a party that was virtually unknown but has been making strides politically at a national level, was instrumental in helping the needy during lockdown times as it would assist members in communities through the Tora Saga campaign.
Buoyantly, Chamuka declared that he is unfazed by the latest developments and vowed to continue pushing the same values and principles as his previous party was doing.
“They can steal our name but our support and ideologies will remain with us. We realized that we were behind time for us to be going to court because of a letter which was taken by some of our members. They put their signatures as party leaders yet they were not our members.
“We cannot engage in violence or keep scolding each over politics hence we’re only focused on the 2023 elections. If we go to the courts, it will take forever before we can get things in shape while others continue to campaign.
“So we have simply moved from that name and we’re going into the elections as PUP. This is the party that will steer us to a national dialogue that we are advocating for,” he said.
Last week, the outspoken opposition leader called for the abolishment of elections to pave way for a national dialogue which will be led by a neutral leader to pave way for economic recovery. He said the new party will keep on seeking engagement with other parties, in particular, ZanuPF.
“If this dialogue goes through, we will not have elections next because they are not helping anything,” Chamuka said.
