Election commission demarcates constituencies, despite MDC protests

By Henry Makiwa
7 December 2007

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on Thursday announced that it has commenced demarcating voting constituencies for next year’s elections, much to the objection of the opposition.

The state-appointed body, widely seen as a Zanu PF appendage, sparked loud calls of disapproval from the opposition after stating that the number of urban constituencies will be reduced while rural constituencies will be increased. The opposition says this has clearly been done to benefit Zanu PF. The ZEC is chaired by former army officer and retired judge, George Chiweshe.

The MDC had called for the ZEC to shelve the demarcation of constituencies until the conclusion of talks between the opposition and ZANU PF. The two factions of the MDC and ZANU PF are engaged in talks under South African mediation, aimed at resolving Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis. A key objective of the talks is to ensure next year’s polls are free and fair.

The new demarcation boundaries will determine the number of seats in Parliament, as each constituency will be represented by a seat in the House of Assembly. The new parliament is set to have a total of 210 seats, up from the previous 150.

According to the ZEC, the rural provinces traditionally dominated by Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU PF party, will have a total of 143 constituencies. There will be 67 constituencies in urban areas, which are traditionally regarded as opposition strongholds.

This is an increase of constituencies in rural areas and with this new set up Zanu PF is clearly positioning itself to gain even more control.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said: “ZEC is a scandal, the people who are there are Zanu PF functionaries and they are dangerous not only to the nation, but to themselves as well. The commission is biased and it is gerrymandering constituencies to ensure victory for Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party. They want to control the rural areas and intimidate our supporters while manipulating others, using food and seed. The arrogance with which Chiweshe has exhibited is dismissible. We will fight this all the way.”

The MDC also dismissed announcements by the ZEC that over 5.6 million people are already registered to vote in next year’s polls. Chamisa said it was clear that “the voters roll is pregnant with Zanu PF spooks and ghosts.”