The political future of the expelled CCM cadre Bernard Membe remains uncertain even as the politician is expected to offer his way forward later in the week.<\/p>\n
Membe who is a long serving foreign affairs minister remains a key political figure in the local and internal scene and whose moves would be keenly followed.<\/p>\n
The ruling party\u2019s central committee on Friday resolved to expel the former Mtama MP from the party for alleged misconduct.
\nMembe suffered the most as former CCM secretaries general Yusuf Makamba and Abrahman Kinana were spared and warned respectively over similar accusations.
\nMembe is currently in South Africa and on Friday welcomed his expulsion from the party, saying his intention of challenging President John Magufuli for the presidency was to blame.
\nThe ex-minister who held sway during the 10 years of President Jakaya Kikwete\u2019s regime, and lost\u00a0 the 2015 presidential ticket race\u00a0 on CCM, is expected to shed more light on his claim.<\/p>\n
When asked about his political future after the expulsion Mr Membe replied that, \u201ca dream never dies.\u201d
\nSome political pundits believe that Mr Membe has only four options to choose from as he looks to his future in public service.
\nMost of those who spoke to The Citizen said\u00a0 he could be headed to the opposition or seek to mend fences with CCM for a possible re-union in future. However, they said the latter option would be hard to predict at the moment.<\/p>\n
The former minister could also form a new political party or quit politics all together, they pointed out.\u00a0 Joining an existing party looked likely the best option should he want to be in CCM\u2019s rival camp.
\nUniversity of Dar es Salaam lecture Dr Muhidin Shangwe said he doesnt see Mr Membe quitting politics as yet. \u201cIn my view if he wants to challenge president Magufuli candidature via CCM he will have to go to the court to contest the party\u2019s decision,\u201d said Dr Shangwe.
\nBut Dr Shangwe added that through his utterances and the way he has been behaving, it is clear that Mr Membe wants to vie for the presidency so he won\u2019t be surprised if he decides to join the opposition to fulfill his dream.<\/p>\n
A veteran politician Mr Twaha Taslima ruled out the possibility of establishing a new political party due to the bureaucracy in registration process.
\n\u201cThis is an election year so even if he will succeed to register a new party he will have a mountain to climb to attract supporters; so I don\u2019t think he will opt for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruaha Catholic University lecturer Prof Gaudence Mpangala said he suspect that Mr Membe might consider to quit politics and concentrate in his personal business due to the current political environment in the country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The political future of the expelled CCM cadre Bernard Membe remains uncertain even as the politician is expected to offer his way forward later in the week. Membe who is a long serving foreign affairs minister remains a key political figure in the local and internal scene and whose moves would be keenly followed. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[2026,719],"class_list":["post-4511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-bernard-membe","tag-ccm"],"yoast_head":"\n