CCM IS DIVIDED ?

The leadership of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) admitted yesterday that its senior officials and Members of Parliament were deeply divided over what vice chairman (Mainland) Pius Msekwa said was in efforts to safeguard their political interests.

Addressing a press conference in Dodoma after two days of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, Mr Msekwa said the party would use the next two months to end differences that dominated the meeting chaired by President Jakaya Kikwete, who is the CCM national chairman.

Mr Msekwa, who was the secretary to a three-member team led by former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi that was picked to establish the source of the friction and recommend solutions, stopped short of naming former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and Speaker of the national assembly Samwel Sitta as the main characters behind the deep divisions in the party.

He said the NEC meeting gave the Mwinyi committee more time to summon the two and demand that they hold their horses or face the internal disciplinary machinery that he said, had not performed its duties as expected to stop the matter from assuming the current notoriety.

Mr Msekwa appeared to confirm that the warring parties, each with almost equal numbers and influence within CCM, did not come to an amicable settlement during the NEC meeting.

And several CCM MPs who spoke to The Citizen yesterday differed over the move to extend the Mwinyi committee's mandate, with some welcoming it and others saying NEC should have ended the matter once an for all.

Said Mr Msekwa: "We are optimistic that the two camps will reconcile and bring harmony within the party. But there is the ethics committee in case one side is not willing to respect the reconciliation process."

He said CCM caucuses had not been used to address members' concerns and added that Parliament should not be faltered for the manner in which it operated as it was distinguished from the political set up.

In Dar es Salaam, members of NEC and other MPs told The Citizen that CCM needed to act fast on the pending issues before the electioneering period ahead of the October general election.

A vocal MP who preferred anonymity said while it was good to extend the time for the Mwinyi team, members themselves must be ready to reconcile and work towards uniting the party once again.

"We must ourselves know how this extension will help us. If the team did not succeed in four months and NEC under Kikwete also failed, what lies ahead?" wondered the MP who said it was clear there were moves to protect some members against becoming accountable.

Professor Feetham Banyikwa (CCM-Ngara) said the NEC acted wisely. He said members should use the gap to convince Messrs Lowassa and Sitta as well as their supporters to calm down and embrace each other for the sake of the party.

He said both leaders were important for CCM at this time before the elections.

Another CCM Central Committee member echoed similar sentiments and noted that they were not ready to expel anybody despite the truth that the party was divided.

Meanwhile, in other resolutions, CCM endorsed the formation of a unity government in Zanzibar, publicity secretary John Chiligati said in Dodoma.

According to the party's electoral process, the CCM Zanzibar Presidential Candidate will be nominated by the NEC on July 16 while the Union presidential aspirant's nomination will be conducted on July18 in Dodoma.

Mr Chiligati said the NEC has set August 8 as the party's day for nominations where CCM�s 4.6 million members would vote to endorse candidates for parliamentary, local councils and ward councillors'seats.

NEC also set a limit to special seats MPs, nominated Members of the House of Representative and ward councillors to only two five-year terms, but the move will take effect in the 2015 elections.

Meanwhile, the party said it will honour its late founder and leader Rashidi Mfaume Kawawa. It directed that December 31 each year be set aside as his remembrance day.