News / National
'Elections to be held by June 29,' says Chinamasa
18 Apr 2013 at 04:15hrs | Views
DATES for harmonised elections will be known once President Mugabe assents to amendments that would have been made to the electoral law, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.
Speaking after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told journalists on Tuesday that principals to the Global Political Agreement had agreed on the election roadmap, Minister Chinamasa said while there were no actual dates for the polls, it was evident the elections would be held by June 29, the day the life of the Seventh Parliament expires.
Minister Chinamasa told diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe that the life of Parliament could not be extended as only the tenure of the Executive could be stretched.
Principals to the Global Political Agreement have directed Minister Chinamasa and his Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs counterpart Eric Matinenga to come up with an election roadmap that addresses issues that ought to be undertaken before the country goes for elections.
Briefing journalists on Tuesday, PM Tsvangirai said the roadmap would assist principals to come up with an election date.
"No date has been set, but we have assigned Chinamasa and Matinenga to draw an election roadmap to a possible position where principals are able to get a date," he said.
"In that process, the two ministers must consider political and legal issues like voter registration and education.
"There are legal issues like the Constitution that has to be signed by the President, there has to be one month voter registration and one month voter education."
PM Tsvangirai said while it was inevitable that Parliament stood dissolved on June 29, the Executive could go for an extra four months beyond that date.
He said some of the processes like voter registration could be allowed to run concurrently with the alignment of existing laws so that they are consistent with the new Constitution.
The PM said it was important for the two ministers to not just look at the Electoral Act, but other laws that he said impinged on the electoral process.
On voter registration, PM Tsvangirai said there had been confusion around the process.
"What we have agreed is funds permitting, the voter registration can run parallel to the constitutional process. It is important to carry out these processes (voter registration and education), of course, subject to availability of funding," he said.
PM Tsvangirai said the constitution provided for one month voter registration and voter education.
Minister Chinamasa said there was need to realign the electoral law first with the Constitutional Bill.
"It is only after the President has assented to the amendments to the electoral law that you can start asking me about the dates when the elections will be held," he said.
"Any questions being asked before that is premature and I will not answer to that. After the amendments are incorporated into the electoral law, then I will be more definitive with respect to the time when they will be held."
Minister Chinamasa said the electoral processes would begin with proclamation of the date followed by the sitting of the nomination court and then the elections.
"As you know, the time frames are statutory. There are minimum and maximum time frames given which are given to the processes leading to the elections."
Minister Chinamasa said the elections were going to be held on the basis of the new supreme law.
"That is why there is need for the amendments to the electoral law. As you might be aware, we have a new structure of the Lower House, that is the National Assembly, with the addition of the women's quota system of 60," he said.
"These women representatives are going to come through a system of proportional representation. We have abolished senatorial constituencies and the bulk of the membership of the Senate will come through a system of proportional representation together with the 10 councillors to come into the provincial council."
Minister Chinamasa said the Constitutional Bill would be tabled in Parliament on May 7 for debate and adoption.
Minister Matinenga said he would soon meet Minister Chinamasa to work on the modalities of the election road map.
Speaking after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told journalists on Tuesday that principals to the Global Political Agreement had agreed on the election roadmap, Minister Chinamasa said while there were no actual dates for the polls, it was evident the elections would be held by June 29, the day the life of the Seventh Parliament expires.
Minister Chinamasa told diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe that the life of Parliament could not be extended as only the tenure of the Executive could be stretched.
Principals to the Global Political Agreement have directed Minister Chinamasa and his Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs counterpart Eric Matinenga to come up with an election roadmap that addresses issues that ought to be undertaken before the country goes for elections.
Briefing journalists on Tuesday, PM Tsvangirai said the roadmap would assist principals to come up with an election date.
"No date has been set, but we have assigned Chinamasa and Matinenga to draw an election roadmap to a possible position where principals are able to get a date," he said.
"In that process, the two ministers must consider political and legal issues like voter registration and education.
"There are legal issues like the Constitution that has to be signed by the President, there has to be one month voter registration and one month voter education."
PM Tsvangirai said while it was inevitable that Parliament stood dissolved on June 29, the Executive could go for an extra four months beyond that date.
He said some of the processes like voter registration could be allowed to run concurrently with the alignment of existing laws so that they are consistent with the new Constitution.
The PM said it was important for the two ministers to not just look at the Electoral Act, but other laws that he said impinged on the electoral process.
On voter registration, PM Tsvangirai said there had been confusion around the process.
"What we have agreed is funds permitting, the voter registration can run parallel to the constitutional process. It is important to carry out these processes (voter registration and education), of course, subject to availability of funding," he said.
PM Tsvangirai said the constitution provided for one month voter registration and voter education.
Minister Chinamasa said there was need to realign the electoral law first with the Constitutional Bill.
"It is only after the President has assented to the amendments to the electoral law that you can start asking me about the dates when the elections will be held," he said.
"Any questions being asked before that is premature and I will not answer to that. After the amendments are incorporated into the electoral law, then I will be more definitive with respect to the time when they will be held."
Minister Chinamasa said the electoral processes would begin with proclamation of the date followed by the sitting of the nomination court and then the elections.
"As you know, the time frames are statutory. There are minimum and maximum time frames given which are given to the processes leading to the elections."
Minister Chinamasa said the elections were going to be held on the basis of the new supreme law.
"That is why there is need for the amendments to the electoral law. As you might be aware, we have a new structure of the Lower House, that is the National Assembly, with the addition of the women's quota system of 60," he said.
"These women representatives are going to come through a system of proportional representation. We have abolished senatorial constituencies and the bulk of the membership of the Senate will come through a system of proportional representation together with the 10 councillors to come into the provincial council."
Minister Chinamasa said the Constitutional Bill would be tabled in Parliament on May 7 for debate and adoption.
Minister Matinenga said he would soon meet Minister Chinamasa to work on the modalities of the election road map.
Source - TH
