Claims that ZANU-PF and MDC agree to postpone elections till June

By Tererai Karimakwenda
02 November, 2007

The Bill that harmonized next year’s elections in Zimbabwe was finally signed into law by Robert Mugabe and gazetted this week. Already there are several reports that say progress has been made on electoral issues by the parties negotiating under the mediation of South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki.
One report from Business Day (SA) said Zanu-PF and the MDC have agreed to postpone the elections from March to some time in June. The report quoted “well-informed sources close to the negotiations” that said the move was necessary in order to allow time for more thorough preparation. Another report said the government has reduced the number of voter registration centres around the country by more than 60 percent, due to a serious shortage of finance and resources.

It is difficult to confirm the reports because the ruling party and opposition representatives at the talks have been gagged, in line with Mbeki’s criticized policy of quiet diplomacy. Given that the talks were originally due to be concluded by June, then by October and it is now November without an end in sight, it is highly likely that the parties have agreed to a delay.

Eddie Cross, the secretary for policy research for the Tsvangirai MDC, said he was surprised to hear that ZANU-PF had agreed to postpone the election because he fully expected they would try and insist on the original March date. He added: “Our position inside the MDC has been that there has to be a delay so that we can normalize the situation in the country before an election is held.”
Cross explained that there are many things that need to be corrected ahead of the elections, including the voters’ roll, which he said had millions of “ghost voters” and needed to be cleaned up. Once registration is completed Cross said delimitation of constituencies would be next. He accused ZANU-PF of having done delimitation on a political, and not a professional and impartial basis.

Cross also addressed state-sponsored violence against the MDC, saying time was needed to allow the MDC to campaign normally, and this has not been possible so far.
Of course without a free media environment it is impossible for the opposition to campaign freely. It will be very interesting to see what ‘game’ Zanu PF will end up playing with all these requirements.