Tsvangirai calls for elections

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has added his voice to calls for early elections to end the shaky coalition government, saying harmonised polls will be held this year without fail.

Tsvangirai told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday from Davos, Switzerland, that a new constitution had always been a very important step towards a referendum and holding of fresh elections.

"What has now happened is that all the issues have been resolved," he said.

"We believe that we can have this constitution drafted by the drafters next week, and hopefully after that we can set the date for the referendum.

"But, of course, you need lead time for promotion of the constitution and the publicity around it and, of course, you need time to campaign.

"But since there is national consensus by all parties, I think the referendum is just a formality.

"So by March we can go to a referendum.

"Whilst we are going to the referendum, we are also concurrently having a voter registration and voter inspection process for two months.

"Then afterwards all the laws have to be aligned to the new constitution, which means you need more time to align some of the laws that are not in conformity with the new constitution and we hope that then we can then determine the date of the national elections."

Quizzed on whether elections would be held this year, Tsvangirai said: "It is definitely going to be this year."

So far, only President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party had insisted on early elections with the two MDCs led by Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube pushing for implementation of the Sadc-guaranteed electoral reforms and levelling of the political playing field.

Last Thursday, the three political leaders agreed to defer implementation of several constitutional clauses to speed up the constitution-making process and prepare for elections.

Some of the deferred matters included the setting-up of a National Prosecuting Authority, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, appointment of running mates and devolution.