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to finance harmonised elections in Zimbabwe has been postponed indefinitely. The meeting was slated for Maputo, Mozambique, on Sunday.
Sadc executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salamao yesterday confirmed the development, but declined to give reasons.
“All I can say at the moment is that the Sadc summit is still on, but is not going to be held over the weekend,” he said.
He also refused to divulge the new date and venue, saying they would be announced in due course.
Harmonised elections are expected by July 31 this year in the wake of the Constitutional Court ruling last week ordering President Mugabe to proclaim dates and hold elections not later than July 31 this year.
The President has since said he would comply with the constitutional order and would discuss with Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to set the dates for the polls on his return from Japan where he attended the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
The Constitutional Court judgment has seen the MDC formations, that have been lobbying for an October poll, developing cold feet and demanding endless “reforms” ahead of the elections.
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The Constitutional Court judgment followed an application by Mr Jealousy Mawarire of the Centre for Election Democracy in Southern Africa who wanted the court to compel President Mugabe to proclaim election dates by June 29 when the life of the Seventh Parliament lapses.
The life of Parliament cannot be extended except in situations of war or where a state of emergency has been declared.
Sadc leaders, at an extraordinary summit held on the sidelines of the AU’s mid-term summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month acknowledged that Zimbabwe was ready for elections and pledged a special summit to co-ordinate efforts to mobilise the funds.
The MDC formations, however, latched onto the proposed summit as an opportunity to lobby for purported reforms of State institutions that analysts say should not be tampered with given that the State is permanent, but governments change.
While welcoming Sadc’s offer to assist in mobilising funding for elections, President Mugabe said the Government will not depend solely on the Sadc pledge but would mobilise funding using domestic resources.
Deputy Prime Professor Arthur Mutambara concurred saying the consummation of the Constitutional Court judgement lies in Government’s ability to raise the requisite funding.
Zimbabweans from all walks of life have also urged Government to mobilise domestic resources saying foreign funding might come with conditions at variance with the national interest.
Online Reporter