CCC: Citizens at the Center?
On 24 January 2022, Nelson Chamisa launched a new political party, the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC). This also signaled the demise of the MDC Alliance Party, a short lived stand-alone formation which existed following the 2018 elections and distinct from the 2018 coalition of seven parties. The main ideology of CCC was presented as re-centering the citizen in policy and decision making. This announcement, laden with claims of a people-centred revival within the main opposition party, was paradoxical in several ways, raising fundamental questions over the nature and purpose of political parties. Political parties generally have a space for citizens in the form of their members. That membership is the highest voice in the political organization. It constitutes the party (party formation) can reconstitute it (constitutional amendment) and even terminate it (party dissolution). The members choose party leaders who remain subject to the membership’s ultimate authority. This expla...