MDC Vice President, advocate Tendai Biti has said that it was imperative for the Nelson Chamisa led party to change its modus operandi when it comes to its rural constituencies.
Posting via his official Twitter handle, Biti said:
It is true that there is a lot we could do better in terms of our rural strategy and rural effort. It is true that we may need to redefine our deployment strategy. But we lost Lupane East to an uneven and unequal electoral playing field. We lost to a selectorate, to coercion and capture.
His remarks follow the party’s defeat at the hands of the ruling ZANU PF in Nyanga South, Bikita East, and Lupane East Constituencies by-elections.
There were high hopes that with the deteriorating economy, the opposition party would be voted ahead of ZANU PF which is considered, by some critics, to be the root cause of all ills bedevilling the country.
The MDC attributes the socio-economic and political crises in the country to ZANU PF’s corruption and bad governance.
The party has so far attributed its poor performance in by-elections to a number of issues including Tropical Cyclone Idai, which they say took their campaigning time. The MDC also says that the ruling ZANU PF is intimidating voters at the same time enhancing its vote-buying strategy.
More: Zim Morning Post