Zimbabwe

Articles about voting issues in the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai : World mustn't let Mugabe rig election' | News24

Mar 202012

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday urged the world not to allow President Robert Mugabe to steal any future elections, but insisted his country is open for business despite its problems. ”My call to the world is, ‘you must insist on the necessary reforms to create a conducive environment for free and fair elections and a lasting solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe’,” Tsvangirai said in Monday’s London Times. Tsvangirai won the first round of the 2008 presidential election only to withdraw after Mugabe’s Zanu-PF unleashed a wave of violence against supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Morgan Tsvangirai, Movement for Democratic Change, Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF

Tsvangirai Demands New Constitution Before Elections | VoA News

Mar 152012
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has ruled out polls in his country before a new constitution is in place.  Tsvangirai said elections would only be held under conditions which would be accepted by regional leaders. Tsvangirai released a document Thursday outlining the conditions in which his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would take part in elections. Describing 2012 as a “watershed year,” the prime minister said Zimbabweans do not want more violent elections like the ones that happened three years ago.  In 2008, violence erupted after Mugabe lost the first round of presidential polls to Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai said his party still has memories of those polls, when about 200 supporters of his MDC party were killed while several thousand were displaced or injured. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Morgan Tsvangirai, Movement for Democratic Change, Robert Mugabe

Outrage over Zimbabwe's 1st draft constitution | News24

Feb 112012

Zimbabwe’s first draft constitution has sparked outrage with legal experts equating it to an orchestrated attack on the country’s moral, cultural and revolutionary pillars, Herald online reported on Friday. Principal drafters of the new constitution have produced the much-awaited first draft of the country’s new charter that is now being reviewed by the Constitution Select Committee (Copac). According to the report legal experts queried how the drafters could come up with a whole draft in the absence of an officially publicised National Report. The experts are said to have described the draft as an “organically-flawed” regime change document that does not reflect the views of the people. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Constitution Select Committee, COPAC

Mugabe wins party vote | News24

Dec 132011
Screen shot 2011-12-12 at 9.52.11 PM

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was endorsed again by his party to stand for elections expected next year, but analysts say even for a veteran political survivor, the 87-year-old leader will find it harder to convince voters to extend his rule after 32 years in power.

Mugabe, they said, would face young voters, many born after independence from Britain in 1980, who may not be overly impressed with his party’s tales of its leadership role in the liberation struggle and are instead desperate to find jobs in the country which has the world’s highest unemployment rate.

Zanu-PF members want Mugabe to hand over the reins to a younger leader, but nobody has ever openly challenged him due to a generous political patronage system and his ability to patiently wear down opponents and keep them guessing on his next move. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF

Mugabe man insists on elections | dailynews.co.zw

Dec 082011

President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba insists elections are on next year, despite slow paced reforms and resistance by coalition partners. Charamba said elections will take place next year even though they are not provided for in the 2012 budget presented to Parliament by Finance minister Tendai Biti last month.

“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. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe elections will cost $220-million, says commission | Mail & Guardian

Oct 262011
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Zimbabwe needs $220-million to hold a constitutional referendum and fresh elections at dates yet to be set, a state daily reported on Wednesday.

“We came up with a budget we submitted to treasury and as long as we get the money we are ready to roll,” Joyce Kazembe, deputy chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) told the Herald newspaper. ”We have already trained our officers.” Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

Sticker Shock as Electoral Commission Pitches US$88M Referendum | VoA News

Oct 012011

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says it will need nearly $US120 million to bolster its operational capacity and conduct the referendum on the new constitution which some say could be held as early as November of this year – though a draft is not yet ready.

Electoral Commission Chairwoman Joyce Kazembe said this week that her organization needs some $US30 million to build capacity and $US88 million to run the referendum. She made the comments during a ceremony accepting vehicles, computers and other equipment provided by the United Nations Development Program. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election costs

Election Advocacy Group Urges Shift in Control of Voters List | VoA News

Sep 212011

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said Tuesday that a bill to reform the country’s electoral system is flawed because it leaves responsibility for compiling the voters roll with the registrar general, saying the Electoral Commission should do the job.

Under the Electoral Amendment Bill now moving through Parliament, the Office of the Registrar General retains control over the national voters list – albeit under the supervision and oversight of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said this will merely dilute accountability. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Irene Petras, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Mugabe says elections to be held in 2012 | SW Radio Africa

Sep 082011
mugabe060411

Robert Mugabe has proclaimed that elections will be held before March next year, amid concerns he could make another one of his unilateral decisions, despite the unity government.

The ageing Mugabe told his ZANU PF’s National Consultative Assembly that elections would only be held after a new constitution has been adopted, but that it must be by March. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF

New bill does not create peaceful electoral environment: Zimbabwe Election Support Network | The Zimbabwean

Jul 252011

In its preliminary response to the bill, which has been welcomed by some sections , the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said that it has, “critically assessed the draft Electoral Amendment Bill gazetted last month and suggested further improvements.”

“The Electoral Amendment Bill addresses a number of issues which ZESN believes are essential for the creation of a conducive environment and the leveling of the playing field for credible free and fair elections. At the same time ZESN notes that, even though some of the reforms will significantly improve the current electoral legal framework, the proposed amendments do not go far enough in addressing the creation of a peaceful electoral environment.” Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election violence, fair elections, Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

Constitution Select Committee deadline for Zimbabwe referendum now 31 December | swradioafrica.com

Jul 232011

The country’s draft constitution is now only expected to be ready for a referendum by December and not September, as originally set at the beginning of this year, a co-chairman of the Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) said on Thursday.

The new charter is meant to clear the way for fresh polls following the country’s bloody 2008 elections, but the drafting process is running months behind after public outreach meetings were repeatedly postponed over outbreaks of violence. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: COPAC, election violence, fair elections

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Chief Under Fire from Mugabe's ZANU-PF | VoA News

Jul 202011

Further election-related tensions surfaced in Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government this week as hardliners in President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF called for the removal of the country’s electoral commission chief, who they accused of overstepping his authority and sympathizing with the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Critics of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Chairman Simpson Mutambanengwe, a retired judge, charged that he made a statement recently at an elections symposium in Spain accusing war veterans with close ties to ZANU-PF of terrorizing rural dwellers.

ZANU-PF sources said the hardliners also took exception to Mutambanengwe’s publicly expressed position that elections cannot be held this year due to a lack of funds for the ballot, saying he has no mandate to make statements on election funding or timing. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Movement for Democratic Change, Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

In Zimbabwe, not enough money for elections | CNN.com

Jul 182011

Zimbabwe’s electoral commission is not able to conduct the country’s elections this year unless it gets a cash injection from the government, a state-owned weekly newspaper reported Sunday.

The commission was only given $8.5 million by the country’s treasury, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Chairman Simpson Mutambanengwe said, according to the Sunday Mail. “We’re barely surviving. There is no money.”

Earlier this month, representatives of President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change party agreed that it would not be possible to have elections this year.
But last week, Mugabe’s party called for general elections this year to end the country’s two-year-old coalition government. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election costs, Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe

Zanu-PF insists on Zimbabwe elections this year | SABCNews

Jul 162011
Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s party has renewed its calls for new elections this year, rejecting a timeline that his own negotiators hammered out last week, a state daily reported today.

“The politburo is unanimous that elections should be held this year,” The Herald newspaper quoted Zanu-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo as saying after the party’s top decision-making body met in the capital. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: Movement for Democratic Change, Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF

Unofficial Zimbabwe poll result announcers face jail | The Herald

Jul 122011
Zimbabwe Ballot

Political parties and their members will be liable for criminal prosecution for pre-empting the official announcement of results of any national election, new poll regulations have revealed. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is the sole body mandated to run and announce poll results countrywide.

Regulations released last week also stipulate that before being nominated as a party candidate, a person would have to be certified by an officer whom a political party indicates to ZEC. This is expected to go a long way in curbing incidents where more than one candidate from one political party submit their names before the nomination court to stand for a particular constituency. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election results, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

How Zanu-PF plans to steal the Zimbabwe elections | Politicsweb

May 302011
RW_Johnson

Despite clear and binding international agreements to the contrary, evidence now available shows that President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF is again planning to steal the next elections with the help of a grossly rigged electoral register.

After the 2008 elections, in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change won a parliamentary majority but in which the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was forced to withdraw from the ensuing presidential election due to the overwhelming level of government-orchestrated violence, Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) stitched together a deal, the Global Political Agreement, which saw Mugabe remain as President with Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and a commitment to a new constitution with free and fair elections. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: vote rigging, voter registration

Zimbabwe parties resume constitution process | AFP

May 142011

Parties to Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal resumed the constitutional process Saturday after reaching a compromise on how to analyse views gathered from the public, an official said. The process stalled on Wednesday over disagreements between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over the weight given to the public submissions.

MDC spokesman Douglass Mwonzora said the parties agreed to resume after ending the dispute over methods to be used in analyzing data collected during outreach meetings across the country. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election reform

Parly’s role in electoral law reform | Newsday

Apr 282011

A very positive piece of news in the past few days was that negotiators from the three political formations had generally agreed on an election roadmap, with very few “sticking” points still to be resolved. Parliament has a significant role to play in the process of coming up with a democratic people-driven constitution and amending the Electoral Act and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act.

As the electoral management body, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is one of the critical players in any election process and upon which the credibility of an election depends. It is a successor to the Electoral Supervisory Commission, which was largely seen as an extension of the Executive in the administration of electoral matters. Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election reform, Electoral Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act

Zimbabwe too broke to organise elections this year | Daily Nation

Apr 272011
Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti addresses a news conference at the party's headquarters in Harare May 6, 2009. He has said Zimbabwe does not have the $400 million needed to organise elections this year  Photo/FILE

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai Biti

Zimbabwe does not have the $400 million needed to organise elections this year, Finance minister Tendai Biti has said. Mr Biti said the coalition government also faces a $150 million deficit this year because it had missed all revenue targets with almost half the year gone.

The government has set a revenue target of $2.7 billion this year, but the economy has performed poorly due to the unstable political environment. President Robert Mugabe says he wants an early election because he has failed to work with his rivals in a coalition government formed in 2009 following his disputed re-election a year earlier.

Read More »

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Zimbabwe Comments Off Topics: election costs
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