Mugabe’s declaration has drawn the ire of Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, who today told journalists in the capital that by proclaiming dates for elections, Mugabe acted unilaterally and in breach of the country’s laws.
Recently, Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court ruled that Mugabe should proclaim dates for elections which should be held not later than July 31.
However, the MDC-T contends the date is impractical and will push the country into a sham election as it does not allow time for key reforms to be implemented first.
Said Tsvangirai: “Early this morning, I received a letter from President Mugabe dated June 13 2013 in which he advised me that in purported compliance of the Constitutional Court ruling, he was proclaiming June 28 as the date for the sitting of the Nomination Court and July 31 as the election date.
“As Honorable Prime Minister and a key member of the coalition government, I am of the view that mere courtesy would have required prior discussion in this matter. In terms of the GPA, the President can only act in consultation with the Prime Minister in respect of any executive decisions including announcement of election dates,” said the PM.
Tsvangirai vowed to resist Mugabe’s recent pronouncement which he labelled as a “clear fraudulent breach of our new constitution”.
He blamed Mugabe for “precipitating an unnecessary constitutional crisis” and said he had instructed his legal team to launch an urgent appeal on the matter.
“I as Prime Minister cannot and will not accept this. Moreover, our constitution makes it clear there shall be a 30 day voter registration period. The net effect of this proclamation therefore is to infringe on the constitutional provisions.
“It will also mean the disenfranchisement of many people who were registering to vote,” said Tsvangirai.
He said Mugabe had undermined the Southern African Development Community, the guarantors of the Global Political Agreement, which gave birth to Zimbabwe’s coalition government, by acting in a unilateral manner.
Tsvangirai said he would raise the issue with SADC leaders when they meet in Mozambique in two days’ time.
“The net effect of President Mugabe’s unilateral declaration is an attack on SADC, President Zuma and his facilitation team and the people of Zimbabwe. President Mugabe cannot hide behind the Constitutional Court ruling which Zimbabweans agree is not practical.
“I will be going leaving tomorrow for SADC and I will brief the regional leaders on this crisis in Zimbabwe,” said Tsvangirai.
He said the earliest proclamation of the date of the sitting of the Nomination Court can only be July 24, after the conclusion of the ongoing mobile voter registration exercise.
He said Zimbabwe could not go for elections without the implementation of reforms pertaining to the security sector and the media among others.
“Elections in Zimbabwe have never been about the date but the process and conditions under which they are held. This call has been reiterated in numerous SADC resolutions. Clearly, the unilateral declaration made today is a deliberate strategy to stall the reform agenda in Zimbabwe,” said Tsvangirai.
He warned that fraudulent elections would deepen Zimbabwe’s crisis.
Press Statement by the Prime Minister.
Post published in: News