What fresh polls are they talking about without a clear roadmap? We have seen it before, rushed elections being stolen with impunity just to prolong autocratic and tyrannical rule in the country.
Zimbabwe should not rush into fresh elections before an estimated 3-4 million people in the Diaspora are allowed to vote with dual citizenship granted transparently.
There should be no fresh polls until NIKUV leaves Zimbabwe or is not involved in election related work in the country.
No fresh polls should be held before the country can organise electronic polls as Namibia did.
There should be no fresh elections in Zimbabwe without robust checks and balances including the total exclusion of NIKUV and its affiliates.
Zimbabweans should not be dragged into elections no matter free of violence before a full audit of the country’s requirements by the United Nations which should fund and supervise the polls.
There should be a total revamping of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and retiring of Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede before any credible fresh elections in Zimbabwe.
There should be no fresh polls without credible international observers i.e.UN/EU/AU/SADC not just South African government observers, liberation movements, AU, SADC and Non-Aligned Movement member states.
No fresh elections should be held under the present chaotic circumstances whereby the electronic voters roll, which is the smoking gun from the recent disputed 2013 elections remains concealed by Zanu-PF under the guise of a broken computer since July 2013 to-date.
Zimbabwe should not hold any fresh elections before all the eligible voters – including an estimated 2 million urban so-called aliens and youths who were disenfranchised in 2013 are registered.
No fresh elections should be held in a hurry just to score political points against internal or external political opponents in order to join the gravy train and maintain a tight grip on power.
Zimbabweans should not agree to going to polls when there is a high potential for violence.
No fresh elections should be held just as a ploy for a second Coalition Government in order to give cornered and ageing Mugabe a decent send- off after he failed to rig the economy.
No fresh elections should be held before the long-overdue realignment of various laws with the new constitution is completed e.g. Electoral Amendment Act, the Citizenship Act, POSA, AIPPA, Broadcasting Act.
No fresh elections should be held until The Criminal Law (Codification and reform) Act that criminalises defamation is completed repealed, after it was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on 22 July 2014, because the devil lies in the details i.e. implementation.
No fresh polls should be held in Zimbabwe before the opening of the airwaves, meaning before new independent non-partisan TV and Radio broadcasting companies are licenced.
Zimbabwe should not frogmarch people to polling stations just to rubberstamp a bedroom coup.
It is reckless for both Zanu-PF and MDC formations to talk about elections before the Diaspora. Vote is restored.
Clifford is a former diplomat, author, London-based political analyst and a PhD candidate at London South Bank University. Email: mashiric@lsbu.ac.uk or zimanalysis2009@gmail.com.
Post published in: Opinions