Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), the official opposition party, will be holding its elective congress from 22 to 24 August in the Zambezi region.
However, party members have not yet made any announcements regarding their candidatures for top positions.
Manuel Ngaringombe, the party’s secretary general, has confirmed that all positions, including party president, vice president, secretary general, and parliamentary list, will be up for grabs.
”At the moment, we have nobody yet who has indicated their intentions of challenging for any position. Maybe there are people out there who have done so, but they have not made it official yet,” said Ngaringombe.
He said, despite issuing a directive a few weeks ago that party members who wish to contest for any position at the congress can start campaigning publicly, his office has yet to receive notification of any member intending to challenge for any position.
“Nominations are also going to come from the floor, and people would still need to be nominated to contest for any position. You can stand up and say you want to contest for this and that position, but if you are not nominated by someone else, then you will still not be allowed to contest. You have to be nominated first,” said Ngaringombe.
PDM currently has 16 seats in Parliament from the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections, with its president McHenry Venaani at the helm of the party for the past 10 years.
In the past few weeks, the party’s regional structures have held their congresses, with the last one held in Khomas Region on Sunday.
Joel Mutotua was elected as the region’s leader.
