Harare voters demand fixed election dates

By Tichaona Sibanda
24 February 2010

Harare residents are advocating for fixed dates for elections in a new constitution, according to information obtained from the MDC.

Constituents in Metropolitan Harare, where the MDC holds all 29 parliamentary seats, said the inclusive government should priorities the reformation of the electoral management system.

MDC-T spokesman for Harare province, Willas Madzimure said as a consequence of the disputed election of 2008, residents want a statute enacted in a new constitution that proclaims the day and month of a general elections once every five years.

“In simple terms, what Harare residents are saying is that a sitting President should not proclaim a date for an election as he’s an interested party,” Madzimure said.

The MDC-T MP for Kambuzuma said a preferred system, as contained in a new constitution would entail having Presidential, Parliamentary and council elections every five years.

“For example, the residents are telling us that elections should occur on the first Saturday of March to give everyone from the voters, officials and participants ample time to prepare. As it is now, only the President can proclaim the dates or months for elections,” he added.

Madzimure said the problem with this current law is that it does not give other parties enough time to prepare for an election, and he gave as another example of the unfairness of this practice that ‘ZANU PF has deliberately modified boundaries for electoral purposes.’ He explained, “And they usually do this a few months before proclaiming the dates and months for elections. To them it’s an added advantage that ensures that they win most seats in Parliament due to gerrymandering.”

“They’ve used this to achieve desired electoral results in all the past elections in the country. We are saying lets go to an election, with everyone knowing the boundaries and the requirements five or four years in advance. If boundaries are to be altered, they should be done so many months in advance with all parties involved and not by ZANU PF appointed officials,” the MP said.

Most residents said the Independent Electoral Commission should put in place a clear post-electoral transitional mechanism, where all election results can be announced within 48 hours (with the option of an additional 36 hours if promise arise) to avoid allegations of rigging.

“This mechanism wasn’t in place during the 2008 elections where the military controlled electoral commission held on to the results for six weeks. God knows how they manipulated those results because Morgan Tsvangirai won those elections and should have been proclaimed winner of the poll. Without a new constitution I think we will be dreaming if we say we will ever have free and fair elections in Zimbabwe,” said Madzimure.