By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Finally Nelson Chamisa has announced a new party called the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
The party, which would identify itself with colour yellow, was launched at a press conference in Harare on Monday afternoon.
Chamisa said the party was dumping the MDC identity altogether, including the symbols.He said the party would vigilantly defend the people’s vote in 2023.
“We won’t allow ZEC to play and join the other team,” he said.
Chamisa took a swipe at President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying: “Mnangagwa has never won any election; that is why he went to the court.”
“But the problem is that when you steal an election you become an illegitimate president and an illegitimate president cannot fix the economy,” he said.
The excitement is surely short lived as Chamisa will see first hand the lightning coming from mighty Mnangagwa.
Again Chamisa disappoints as he is a master of disappointment. Chamisa had coppied a pressure group from Sweden called Citizens’ Coalition, officially known as Citizens’ Future until 2017, is a right-wing political party in Sweden that was founded in 2014. The party considers itself liberal-conservative and green conservative, while observers described it as a right-wing populist party critic of immigration and conservative.
This is a party which is Xenophobic and tribalistic by nature. It is therefore surprising how Chamisa and those big pot bellied members settle for a name from a party with values which are questionable.
To show the lack of seriousness Chamisa tells his supporters thst his party is temporal.
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people, factions, states, political parties, militaries, or other parties agree to work together, temporarily, in a partnership to achieve a common goal. The word coalition connotes a coming together to achieve a goal albeit s temporal one. A coalition government is a temporal government and formed jointly by more than one political party. Parties may decide to form a coalition government if there is a hung parliament where no single party has a clear working majority.
So the party has not escaped from the ghost of the MDC. Chamisa presents a fragile coalition with power hungry party members like Biti and Job Sikhala. The problem of power struggle which destroyed MDC is the one preserved and protected by Chamisa in CCC.
What is lacking and visibly missing in between the shoulders of the MDC planning team is the container which carries the brains many call it head. If this team was serious they would have come up with a party not a coalition.
A coalition depends on understanding between the parties. If there is no understanding, the party becomes weak. Chamisa knows that Biti is eyeing his seat and then he gave this new group a fragile name. The only way a coalition party would work is if they have a strong leader who can bring all parties together and arrive at a consensus. If the leader is too strong, he may try to dominate causing cracks. If the leader is too weak, he cannot control all the members of the coalition making a weak party. Chamisa has simply fragged MDC in different name with all its problems.
Most coalition parties are unstable because they are formed by unlike parties. Without cohesion, they are at risk of falling at any time. This can cause imbalance. One small party can blackmail the big tent by threatening to pull it down and thus make the party unstable. Coalition parties when made by opposing parties may not be able to come up with a consensus on policies like on economy. This can affect governance. Imagine Killer Zivhu Jonathan Moyo Job Sikhala Biti and Ngarivhume pulling then the coalition apart. Will it stand at all. When regional party or parties are dominant, they demand more favors/funds for their states at the expense of others. The growth of regionalism can affect nationalist interests.
The new Coalition which is believed to be a party can not stand and soon will be breaking into CCC Sikhala or Biti.
We need to understand fully that coalition, in politics and international relations, is a group of actors that coordinate their behaviour in a limited and temporary fashion to achieve a common goal. Once the goal is achieved the coalition flops.
Either way it flops. That is if its not able to achieve it flops never the less.
So Chamisa has come up with a party destined to flop because it is not a party it is a coalition. It has no constitution regardless of many lawyers being members of the flopping over subscribed coalition.
What the excited citizens do not know is the fact that the whole thing is found in a temporal basis. As a form of goal-oriented political cooperation, a coalition can be contrasted with an alliance and a network.
An alliance suggests a robust partnership of at least medium-term duration, as compared with the more fleeting coalition. Alternatively, a network is a more informal but potentially broader grouping, suggesting more ad hoc cooperation than in a coalition but over a wider array of concerns. In coalitions, alliances, and networks, the actors involved—whether states in wartime, political parties in government, or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in political movements—each retain their distinctive identity and interests, but the purpose of collaboration across all three is ultimately the same: to aggregate actors’ strengths to achieve some shared goal that none could achieve individually. The coalition is, however, the most ephemeral of the three.
In Short Chamisa has simply presented a group and not a political party. Is this ignorance or the Jecha is self harming. Bearing in mind that coalition party in a parliamentary government, body of advisors that is formed when different political parties choose to cooperate in the administration and regulation of a country or community.
Coalition governments usually are a temporary alliance, being formed when no single political party gains a clear majority and competing parties instead negotiate to work together. Such a situation is likely to occur during a period of crisis, such as during a war, or in response to political breakdown. Members of all parties in a coalition government are appointed to a cabinet. So what is happening to Chamisa and his colleagues. Why would Chamisa chose an Unstable party, which is Time consuming process of decision making.
A coalition is known to Sometimes ignore National interest as it is kept aside for accomplishing regional interest. In a coalition Generally appeasement policies are considered rather developmental policy.
Before those who were excited got excited they must realise that a coalition can lack clear objectives, or be difficult to agree common objectives. This is not what you want. Voters should know that Forming and managing a coalition can be a very time-consuming and bureaucratic process that can take away time from working directly on campaign issues and organizational tasks.
A coalition May be dominated by one powerful organization. Power is not always distributed equally among members; larger or richer organizations can have more say in decisions.
The coalition May require you to compromise your position on issues or tactics. Shared decision-making can be slow and may paralyze progress.
This can often be constrained by a lack of resources.
It is Potential for donor interference (e.g. a donor is interested in funding certain activities but there is a danger of planning activities only because you know you can get the funds).
You may not always get credit for your work. Sometimes the coalition as a whole gets recognition rather than individual members. Or certain members get or claim more recognition than others, causing conflict and resentment.
If the coalition process breaks down it can harm everyone’s advocacy by damaging members’ credibility.
Coalition activities can be difficult to monitor and evaluate.
It is therefore sad that Chamisa once again has poured sand in his own rice. Is it calculated to discredit the elections. Nothing is correct with the coalition leader Chamisa.