MDC demands diaspora vote, biometric voting

The MDC will not go into any future presidential election presided over by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, officials said on Thursday.

The party is calling for the disbandment of the elections body, currently chaired by Priscilla Chigumba, a High Court judge.

"There will not be an election in this country under those people because they have shown that they've a credibility deficit. They're not honourable as citizens to run a credible election. We've to have a proper independent and credible electoral commission. This is not a threat, it's a good promise to my brother Emmerson Mnangagwa," Chamisa said in Harare, speaking at the launch of the party's new policy document, RELOAD.

The MDC accuses ZEC of manipulating last year's elections in favour of President Mnangagwa. The Constitutional Court later confirmed his victory, but that has not stopped the MDC from maintaining that the Zanu-PF leader is an "illegitimate" president.

"We propose fundamental reforms including the complete disbanding of ZEC and its secretariat," Chamisa's deputy, Tendai Biti said.

The MDC says as part of electoral reforms, it wants not only a biometric voters' roll but Zimbabweans to also vote electronically.

The party also wants the Electoral Act amended so that election dates are set by law.

The MDC also wants to be involved in the delimitation process where constituency boundaries are drawn. It also wants agreement on the printing of procurement of all election materials, and how election residue is preserved.

RELOAD also says millions of Zimbabweans living outside the country must be allowed to vote, and what the party describes as a "demilitarisation of electoral processes."