Testing time for MDC as they line-up 300 rallies countrywide

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 January 2008

The MDC, led by its founding President Morgan Tsvangirai, is to hold 300 rallies across the country in the next few weeks. The majority are planned for rural areas.
Party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said they would also launch a campaign on Saturday, demanding free and fair elections and better living standards for all.

Parliamentary and presidential polls are scheduled for March, but the opposition has still not said if it will definitely participate. Both factions of the MDC are believed to be waiting for the conclusion of the mediation talks before making concrete statements on the elections.

The Secretary-General of the Mutambara faction, Professor Welshman Ncube, told us this week that both factions will meet soon to work out how they can present a united front against Zanu-PF.
Sam Sipepa Nkomo, the secretary for Home Affairs for the Tsvangirai MDC faction, said while they have alerted authorities about their planned rallies, they could face problems as recent amendments to POSA and AIPPA have not yet been signed into law.

As it stands, under Section 26 of POSA, police still have powers to prohibit a public gathering – something they have done with most MDC rallies in the past. Nkomo added that they are presently required to give seven days’ written notice of their gatherings to a senior police officer, designated as the regulatory authority for the area concerned.

‘We are still wary of how the police will react to our requests. In the spirit of the ongoing talks we hope the authorities won’t interfere with our rallies, just like they don’t interfere with Zanu-PF rallies,’ Nkomo said.
When amendments to POSA sailed through parliament late last year, one of the new requirements was for the police to enter into dialogue with the organisers of a gathering, before prohibiting the meeting or rally from taking place. But this will only apply once Mugabe signs the amended bills into law.
An analyst said while both factions of the MDC have not clearly spelt out their intentions on elections, he believes they are making preparations for a full-scale campaign exercise.

Innocent Gonese, the MDC’s secretary for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, explained that through the Mbeki initiative his party has requested a postponement of elections by six months. But it is still within Robert Mugabe’s legal right to call for elections in March.
According to Zimbabwe’s laws, the President dissolves parliament 90 days before a general election, which must be held within the designated period. But this law also allows Mugabe to postpone the dissolution of parliament.

‘By law Mugabe can dissolve parliament 90 days before an election and as a matter of practice, the same law also allows him to dissolve the institution on the eve of the polls if there are urgent issues to be heard in Parliament. I think common sense tells us the delay here is as a result of the ongoing talks by Mbeki, because they are some outstanding resolutions there that have to pass through parliament,’ Gonese said.
The SADC led talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF are deadlocked over two main issues. The election date and the introduction of a transitional constitution have to be agreed to by all parties before a deal can be signed. Any resolutions from the talks have to go through parliament and analyst say this is why Mugabe hasn’t yet dissolved it.