George Charamba insists elections are on next year

President Robert Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba told Daily News that elections will take place next year even though they are not provided for in the 2012 budget.

"The fact that money was not allocated to elections does not mean elections won't take place next year. Budget has unallocated reserves so it is very easy to hold elections," Charamba told the Daily News in an interview.

"Elections will definitely take place provided we finish the referendum on time," he said.

Charamba spoke as his boss prepared to formalise the 2012 poll demand by way of a resolution at the ongoing Zanu PF conference in Bulawayo.

A resolution by Zanu PF at last year's conference in Mutare for elections to be held in 2011 suffered after Mugabe later admitted that gone were the days when he could unilaterally call an election.

Mugabe and coalition partners Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and a fractured breakaway MDC faction have agreed that elections can only be held after the adoption of a new constitution.

Tsvangirai is also insisting on reforms in the media and security sector as a condition to participating in elections.

A timetable presented by officials handling the constitution making process this week indicated that the referendum will be held in June at the earliest.

Biti recently said although he had not directly budgeted for elections, he could source for the money if Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed on a date.

He said the issue is more political than budgetary as political processes have to be agreed on first before an election is held.

"If Tsvangirai and Mugabe want elections by hook or crook they will have them. But we are not fools. Are they going to be sustainable?"

"Business people have been brutalised. This is an unfortunate country. We need healing as a country"

"It's not about resources, whether I have budgeted for them or not. It's about commitments that the principals themselves have agreed on," Biti reportedly said.

Speaking at a press conference held at his party offices recently, Simba Makoni, president of Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) said the country could not afford to hold elections next year because there were too many high key events taking place next year.

Makoni said the country had no financial capacity to hold a referendum, census as well as elections all in one year.

Sadc leaders, who played midwife to the fragile coalition government and are closely monitoring the situation, have said Zimbabwe elections can only go ahead after the adoption of a roadmap crafted under the supervision of South African President Jacob Zuma.

Sadc Executive Secretary, Tomaz Salamao, has in the past said no single party in the coalition has the power to unilaterally call for elections in Zimbabwe.

"The GPA states that the three political parties will submit to Sadc and African Union (AU) the date of elections in Zimbabwe."

"The date should come from the parties who signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA), and it is binding. They have to sign on that paper that they agree to the date of elections and they have to do that via the Sadc mediator ' President Jacob Zuma.

"The main objective in the establishment of the Government of Unity was to pave way for elections. So you cannot disconnect the GPA and elections. Elections in Zimbabwe are part of the GPA because it was said that because the elections in 2008 were not recognised as free and fair, let's put in place a mechanism to prepare for a free and fair election in Zimbabwe hence the GPA.

"In a nutshell, when you speak about elections you speak about GPA, and that's why we encourage all the parties to fully implement the GPA," Salamao said then.the allagations are