MDC-T set to boycott elections before reforms

MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti told journalists in Harare that the MDC-T's national executive council met on Saturday and took the decision to push for the implementation of an agreed election roadmap.

He said other conditions for his party's participation in the polls were the completion of the constitution-making process; a new voters' roll and security sector reforms.

He said: "Our members are going to go for elections after the completion of the constitution-making process, the referendum, drafting of a new voters' roll, media reforms, completion of legislative reform, the conclusion of outstanding issues at the dialogue table on security sector realignment and staffing of ZEC.

"And also after the compliance by Zimbabwe on the Sadc electoral guidelines on free and fair elections and putting in place of mechanisms to ensure that violence will not be a factor in the said election that is what the roadmap suggests."

Biti said his party was also against the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar.

He said the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme should be revisited with a view to incorporating different approaches.

"The party, therefore, wants the whole programme to start afresh, ensuring the development of a genuine broad-based upliftment programme, which balances the need to attract investment that will see the economy growing and create jobs for the jobless, not a programme that will benefit the elite alone."

During its recent annual national people's conference Zanu-PF resolved that elections to choose the President and national assembly representatives should be held in 2012.

The party said this was after the realisation that the inclusive Government was not working effectively.