News / National
Zanu-PF, MDC-T differ on election date
14 Mar 2013 at 04:51hrs | Views
PARTIES in the Inclusive Government differ on whether harmonised elections should be held before the country plays host to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly set for August this year.
Zanu-PF and MDC - T want the election date to be announced soon after the referendum to pave way for the polls before the UNWTO while MDC wants them sometime in September this year.
The Global Political Agreement that created the current government lapses in June.
"The President reserves the right to pronounce the date for the elections which we feel should be soon after the referendum," said Zanu-PF national spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo.
"We are not going to accept anything that is meant to keep postponing the elections. We know they want to enjoy the status of being ministers at the UNWTO something which they do not deserve. We want elections well before the UNWTO."
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora said the Inclusive Government could not go beyond its lifespan in June.
"The position of the MDC - T is very clear that elections should be held before the UNWTO but the key issues relating to electoral reforms must have been implemented.
"Our understanding is that the GNU (Government of National Unity) expires before the UNWTO, so the view of the MDC - T is that elections should at the latest be held immediately after the expiry of the GNU which we think is possible before the UNWTO."
However, MDC director for policy and implementation Mr Qhubani Moyo said it was not feasible to have the harmonised polls before the tourism event.
He said there was no need to hurry processes just for the sake of conducting the elections.
"The main thing is about aligning the new electoral laws to the new constitution (if adopted)," he said.
"We need to ensure that we capacitate institutions created by the new constitution in order for them to carry out their mandates.
"For us the most practical time for the elections is September not because of the UNWTO but the timelines of the things that need to be done. These things clearly point to the fact that we will go as far as August."
Mr Moyo said conducting elections in September would be viable because Parliament can be dissolved on the midnight of June 29 and there after polls could be held in three months which gets to September.
Addressing the media in Harare yesterday, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said it was possible for the elections to be held in July though the principals were not certain of the dates yet.
Zanu-PF and MDC - T want the election date to be announced soon after the referendum to pave way for the polls before the UNWTO while MDC wants them sometime in September this year.
The Global Political Agreement that created the current government lapses in June.
"The President reserves the right to pronounce the date for the elections which we feel should be soon after the referendum," said Zanu-PF national spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo.
"We are not going to accept anything that is meant to keep postponing the elections. We know they want to enjoy the status of being ministers at the UNWTO something which they do not deserve. We want elections well before the UNWTO."
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora said the Inclusive Government could not go beyond its lifespan in June.
"The position of the MDC - T is very clear that elections should be held before the UNWTO but the key issues relating to electoral reforms must have been implemented.
"Our understanding is that the GNU (Government of National Unity) expires before the UNWTO, so the view of the MDC - T is that elections should at the latest be held immediately after the expiry of the GNU which we think is possible before the UNWTO."
However, MDC director for policy and implementation Mr Qhubani Moyo said it was not feasible to have the harmonised polls before the tourism event.
He said there was no need to hurry processes just for the sake of conducting the elections.
"The main thing is about aligning the new electoral laws to the new constitution (if adopted)," he said.
"We need to ensure that we capacitate institutions created by the new constitution in order for them to carry out their mandates.
"For us the most practical time for the elections is September not because of the UNWTO but the timelines of the things that need to be done. These things clearly point to the fact that we will go as far as August."
Mr Moyo said conducting elections in September would be viable because Parliament can be dissolved on the midnight of June 29 and there after polls could be held in three months which gets to September.
Addressing the media in Harare yesterday, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said it was possible for the elections to be held in July though the principals were not certain of the dates yet.
Source - TH
