Elections set for 31 July

Harare Buraeau
President Mugabe yesterday proclaimed 31 July as the date for the harmonised elections and set 28 June for the sitting of the Nomination Court to accept presidential, parliamentary and council candidates as he fulfilled the provisions of the new Constitution.The President announced the elections date in his capacity as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Section 58(1) of the Constitution stipulates that an election to the office of the President, a general election and elections of members of governing bodies of local authorities should be held on a day or days immediately following its dissolution.

The term of office of the President and that of Parliament expire on 29 June and the President has announced the election dates in fulfillment of the Constitution and a ruling by the Constitutional Court compelling him to hold the elections by 31 July.

The date is also in line with the election roadmap set by the inclusive Government that was mainly guided by the adoption of the new Constitution.
According to Statutory Instrument 86 of 2013 published in an extraordinary Government Gazette, a presidential run-off will be held on 11 September if no candidate manages to score 50 percent plus one vote.

President Mugabe has since written to his partners in the inclusive Government, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara informing them of the elections date.

The President also wrote to MDC leader Professor Welshman Ncube informing him of the date.
“In my capacity as President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, I hereby inform you that I have today (yesterday) issued a proclamation calling for the holding of harmonised elections and fixing 28 June 2013 as the date for the nomination of aspiring candidates and 31 July 2013 as the date for holding the polls,” said President Mugabe in the letter.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai repeated his threat to boycott the elections claiming Sadc was forcing him to contest the polls he wanted held on 25 August.

Deputy Prime Minister  Arthur Mutambara endorsed the date saying said Mr Tsvangirai’s demands were not realistic.
“If the reforms Tsvangirai wants were not done in four and half years what will allow them to be done in three months?” he said.

Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC had conflicting views with spokesperson Mr Nhlanhla Dube hailing the date while Prof Ncube said Sadc must reverse it.

In a tweet Mr Dube said: “Elections date has been proclaimed. We are in full election mode.”
But Prof Ncube accused President Mugabe of “unilateral” proclamation of the elections date.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi yesterday briefed diplomats from the Non Aligned Movement  countries about the proclamation saying the President was complying with the law as per the Constitutional Court ruling.

President Mugabe also explained to the three his decision to evoke the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act Chapter 10:20 to effect amendments that were adopted by Cabinet on Tuesday to the Electoral Act.

“Given the need to comply with the deadline for elections as imposed upon me by the Constitutional Court judgment, it became inexpedient to wait for the passage through Parliament of the Electoral Amendment Bill to align the electoral law with the new Constitution,” he said.

The Constitutional Court directed President Mugabe to hold elections by 31 July after a Zaka registered voter Mr Jealous Mawarire filed an application compelling him to hold elections by 29 June when the tenure of Parliament expires.

President Mugabe said in the elections date proclamation that the Nomination Court for presidential candidates will sit in the High Court’s Court A at Mapondera Building in Harare from 10am.

Candidates for the National Assembly’s 210 seats will file their nominations at the Nomination Courts sitting at magistrates courts in their provincial headquarters in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Bindura, Marondera, Chinhoyi, Masvingo, Gwanda and  Gweru.

Those vying for constituencies in Matabeleland North will file their nominations at the magistrates courts in Bulawayo.
Prospective councillors will file their nominations at district offices in their areas.

President Mugabe said the Provincial Assemblies of Chiefs will meet on 12 July in the country’s eight provinces covering rural areas to elect chiefs to the Council of Chiefs.

The new Council of Chiefs will then convene at Mukwati Buiding in Harare on 19 July to elect the president and the deputy president of the Council of Chiefs who become ex officio members of the Senate.

The 16 chiefs to take up seats in the Senate according to section 120(1)(b) of the new Constitution will be elected by electoral colleges of chiefs in each province.

President Mugabe did not set dates for Senators’ nominations as they will be elected by a proportional representation system according to the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Electoral Act) Regulations 2013 gazetted yesterday.

The Senate will consist of 88 members, six elected from each of the provinces by a system of proportional representation.
Chiefs will constitute 16 members, with the president and deputy president of the Council of Chiefs also serving in the Upper House.

At least eight of the Senators would be provincial governors, with two members of the Senate representing persons living with disabilities.
“Elections of Senators must be conducted in accordance with the electoral law, which must ensure that the senators . . .  are elected under a party-list system of proportional representation which is based on the votes cast for candidates representing political parties in each of the provinces in the general election for members of the National Assembly and in which male and female candidates are listed alternately, every list being headed by a female candidate,” reads the new Constitution.

Preparations for the harmonised elections are already at an advanced stage with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Registrar General of Voters already carrying out the mandatory intensive voter education which has entered its 23rd day today.