Zimbabwe
Opposition demands elections in Harare

afrol News, 4 January - The main Zimbabwean opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is protesting the further delay of the elections in the capital, Harare. The government is trying to postpone this local election to a date after the presidential election, as its foreseen loss of Harare might endanger its chances in the presidentials.

The Zimbabwean government yesterday re-appointed the Harare Commission, which has been running the city since the former executive run by Solomon Tawengwa was fired in 1999 for gross mismanagement and corruption. The Commission's term now has been extended four times. While the MDC today questions "the legality of this move," government argues that it is necessary "to ensure the continued functioning of the city." 

The MDC now demands the "Harare elections must not be delayed." Given the timeline set forth in the Zimbabwean Urban Councils Act, the election date must be announced by 13 January. "Thus we await that day to confirm the actions and intentions of the government. We hope that the ruling party has for a change decided to live by the laws of this country," an MDC communiqué reads.

The Zimbabwean Supreme Court in December had shown that the government acted illegally in its failure to hold Harare elections for two years. The court set a deadline and said that mayoral and council elections must be held by 11 February. The Registrar General's office assures us that they are busy making the necessary preparations for this election, "but only time will tell," the MDC notes.

The opposition has good reasons to doubt the government's intentions. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, official sources had told 'The Financial Gazette' Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa was crafting statutory instruments under the Presidential Powers Act that would be "used to amend the Urban Councils Act" and postpone the mayoral and council elections in the capital. 

The ruling ZANU-PF party has poor ratings within the urban electorate, as the year 2000 parliamentary elections had shown. Given the same results as in 2000, the MDC would win a great majority in Harare mayoral elections. This loss of face before the presidential elections is what ZANU-PF wants to avoid, according to reports.

The dispute about the Harare mayoral and council elections thus is part of the troubled preparations for this year's presidential elections in March, elections observers believe the MDC would win if they were held freely, fairly and without political violence. All signals however indicate that the level of political violence and intimidation will not be less than in the 2000 parliamentary elections.

Only today, the MDC reported of a mob of ZANU-PF supporters destroying an MDC official's house. "In less than ten days, four MDC members have been killed in cold blood by ZANU-PF thugs," the opposition party reports. The police have not arrested anyone, saying they are still investigating. "They have instead arrested mourning MDC supporters," the report goes on.

- Violence appears to be one prominent component of the campaign strategy of ZANU-PF, the independent "Daily News" yesterday lamented in a leader. "The period between now and the presidential election is going to be the most costly, traumatic and longest ever endured by Zimbabweans."

The first fight probably will be whether the more than two million inhabitants of Harare are allowed to elect their mayor according to their constitutional rights.

Sources: Based on MDC, press reports and afrol archives 

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