He said the latest date for the elections would be 30 October.
Addressing thousands of his supporters at Highfields’ Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare on Sunday, Tsvangirai said the date would be announced only in the event of agreement between him and Zanu (PF)’s President Robert Mugabe.
“The constitution should be adopted soon, after which there would be intensive voter registration for 30 days. After that there will be inspection of the voters’ roll for another 30 days then we will sit down with President Mugabe and decide on the election date,” he said.
The new constitution provides for a 30 day registration period after its adoption and, according to Tsvangirai, this would be more widespread than the current “discredited process”.
He said the issue of the voters’ roll was vital because this is where Zanu (PF) intended to use its machinery to rig the elections.
“Every school shall have a registration centre,” Tsvangirai said. Tsvangirai reiterated his call that this course of action would only succeed with the requisite reforms.
“We must have reforms before elections. The Global Political Agreement must be implemented in full. To the state media we say, You are not Zanu (PF)’s propaganda machine, and there must be a code of conduct for security forces,” he said.
Tsvangirai said he had the backing of SADC and the African Union on these issues. The MDC President said foreign observers would have to be allowed in the country to watch the elections.
“We have nothing to hide. If we are doing our things transparently and honestly what’s there to be afraid of?” he said.
Tsvangirai also said Mugabe was surprised by the high turnout of people who wanted to register as voters.
“He asked me where all these people were coming from and seeing that he was afraid I told him that these were young people now eligible to vote, aliens and those who had not bothered to vote in the past but were now sensing the urgency,” he said.
Tsvangirai also revealed that once in office, an MDC-T government would face a hefty $14,5 billion infrastructure rehabilitation and development bill.
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