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where he attended the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
In the wake of last week’s Constitutional Court ruling compelling him to proclaim an election date and hold harmonised elections by July 31, the President is expected to immediately set into motion the process leading to a proclamation of the election date.
He is expected to start by consulting Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa on progress made in aligning electoral laws to the new Constitution before engaging other principals in the inclusive Government on the appropriate date within the timeframe set by the court.
The President is expected to meet Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara on Monday for their routine meeting as principals to the Global Political Agreement, and it is there that they are expected to first exchange notes on possible dates.
On Tuesday, the President will chair Cabinet which could be seized with assessing progress on the alignment of laws, before chairing the Zanu-PF Politburo meeting on Wednesday where Zanu-PF is expected to finalise rules and guidelines for its primary elections for legislators and councillors, with the primaries expected shortly afterwards.
The Constitutional Court ruling has scuppered Mr Tsvangirai’s bid for poll deferment amid reports that all is not well in his faction-riddled party. Several recent surveys have pointed to a Zanu-PF victory in the elections with MDC-T allies also indicating a harvest of thorns for Mr Tsvangirai.
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Preparations for the elections are already underway, with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Registrar General’s Office set to start the mandatory 30-day mobile voter registration on Monday though, at law, sedentary voter registration is deemed to have started with the publication of the new Constitution on May 23.
Voter registration would be undertaken concurrently with the inspection of the voters’ roll.
President Mugabe attended the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Japan which ended on Monday before returning home after a brief stopover in Singapore.
The President and First Lady were welcomed at the Harare International Airport by Vice President Joice Mujuru, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche and Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda.
Also present were the Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Yonezo Fukuda and service chiefs.
Online Reporter