Government steams ahead with March election plans

By Tererai Karimakwenda
07 December, 2007

The state run Sunday Mail newspaper reports that the country’s electoral agency has concluded the delimitation of constituency boundaries for the March elections and that there will be no postponement of the controversial polls. George Chiweshe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), is quoted as saying what is left is to polish up the preliminary report on the exercise, then present it to Robert Mugabe.

The government controlled media usually ignore the talks mediated by South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki and their relevance to the election process. But this time Chiweshe made it clear that any changes agreed to at the talks would have to become part of Zimbabwean law before they can be enacted. He said without a legal change, there can be no change in the election date. Yet no specific date for the elections has been announced by the government and March is about 7 weeks away.

The country’s main opposition parties reacted to the news with the same defiance they have displayed lately, insisting that they will not participate without the implementation of conditions agreed to at the SADC mediated talks in South Africa.

Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson for the Tsvangirai MDC, described Chiweshe’s announcement as a “joke” that reflects the arrogance of those who do not want to see an end to the Zimbabwe crisis. He said: “Zimbabwe should avoid the trap of the Kenyan scenario and we are running into serious danger of repeating the Kenyan crisis where if Zimbabweans are not satisfied that the coming election is a free and fair election, they are literally going to, out of desperation and exasperation, take the law into their own hands.” Chamisa said it was “inconceivable and impossible” to hold elections in March.

Gabriel Chaibva, speaking for the Mutambara MDC formation, said according to the constitution of Zimbabwe it is the prerogative of the head of state to announce an election date 90 days prior to the expiration of his term. He said this had been done and elections can be held in March. But whether their party would be involved was another issue. Chaibva said: “As a result of the ongoing SADC mediation efforts in South Africa, at this stage it would be premature for us to be making a reference to whether we will participate in the elections or not.” Chaibva stressed that they would not allow anyone to “walk free to state house.”

Zimbabweans, already dealing with a chaotic existence as food and cash shortages continue, will soon have more chaos to contend with as we get closer to these crucial elections. The only thing that is clear is that they desperately hope that this is the year of change, so their suffering can come to an end.