HARARE Zimbabwes biggest election watchdog on Thursday said calls by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe for new elections are premature, adding that credible polls are possible only after a complete overhaul of the countrys distorted voters roll and a review of electoral, security and media laws. <
Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government in February 2009 but have since then been locked in a dispute over how to share executive power, have in recent weeks urged supporters to prepare for a new vote to end political stalemate in the country.
But the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said conditions that have produced disputed election results in the past still existed in the country while political violence that had relatively eased following formation of the unity government was on the rise again.
ZESN, which is a coalition of more than 30 civic groups working to promote democracy and free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, said the voters was still in a mess with tens of thousands of ghosts voters on the register.
An imperfect voters roll can disenfranchise the electorate, said ZESN, which also called for the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to takeover voter registration from the office of Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, a known Mugabe ally who has been accused in the past of manipulating the register to ensure victory for the veteran President and his Zanu (PF) party.
Under the political agreement signed by Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara that gave birth to their power-sharing government, a new election should be held after the drafting of a new democratic constitution to ensure the vote is free and fair.
But the constitutional reform process is lagging behind schedule which could mean that the new vote that was initially expected in 2011 will have to be delayed to probably 2012 or 2013 or that the three governing parties agree a new electoral framework to allow the holding of polls even before a new constitution is in place.
ZESN said in addition to preparing a fresh and clean voters roll the unity government would have to scrap the Public Order and Security Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act to ensure a new vote is free and fair even in the absence of a new constitution.
The civic group said the government must move with speed to provide resources and other support to the ZEC to ensure the commission is able to manage elections.
ZESN proposes that the election management body needs to be capacitated and resourced to improve its ability to manage elections efficiently and effectively. ZESN continues to advocate for the creation of a truly independent election management body, the group said.
Zimbabwes elections over the past decade have been accompanied by violence and gross human rights abuses with at least 200 supporters of Tsvangirais MDC party are believed to have been killed while no less than 10 000 others were displaced in political violence in the run-up to a second round presidential vote in 2008.
Tsvangirai, who had been tipped to win the second round vote after defeating Mugabe in the first round ballot withdraw from the race citing state sponsored attacks against his supporters and leaving Mugabe to win the poll uncontested.
But Mugabes victory was rejected by the international community including some of his African allies forcing him to agree to form a power sharing a government with his former opposition foes.
The government has won plaudits for stabilising the economy but has moved at a snails pace on political and democratic reforms.
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