Nqaba Matshazi News Editor MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti has called on Sadc to ensure that Zimbabwe does not hold an illegal election. In a statement yesterday, Biti reiterated his party’s calls that the proclamation for the July 31 polls had been illegal and if Zimbabwe went ahead with elections they would be illegal.
“They have ignored international laws and dictates, hence it is now incumbent upon Sadc to review whether Zimbabwe can hold credible, free and fair elections,” he said.
“It is clear, therefore, that Zanu PF has brought the chaos within its ranks into the government system and now seeks to railroad Zimbabweans into another sham election.” Biti pointed out that at a recent meeting of the regional body, Sadc urged parties to set up a new board for the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) and to bring the electoral law, which President Robert Mugabe unilaterally amended, to Parliament.
“Mugabe used a decree to enact the Electoral Act when we still had enough time to get it through Parliament and Sadc urged us to do the same, and before the expiry of the last Parliament, when we still had two weeks within which to have done this. Once again, our friends in Zanu PF disregarded this,” he lamented.
Biti, the Finance minister, said there were a number of laws that still needed to be aligned with the new Constitution, which Zanu PF has ignored.
Sadc recently came down hard on Mugabe, proposing alternative ways to postpone the election date, but the veteran leader has responded by threatening to pull out of the regional body.
Among the discrepancies Biti pointed out was the special voting system, saying five years ago only 5 000 people voted by postal ballot, yet this year 120 000 had been registered as special voters. He said 69 000 police officers had registered for the special vote, yet the government had not hired such a high number of cops.
“As Treasury, I can tell you we are not paying 69 000 police officers. It is almost double those on the country’s payroll, which is something questionable,” he charged. The MDC-T official also lamented what he termed violations and an increase in violence ahead of the month-end elections.
