20110429
Zimbabwe Independent

THE Global Political Agreement (GPA)'s tripartite negotiating team's final draft roadmap clarifies that President Robert Mugabe has no power to unilaterally call for elections without consulting and agreeing with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The roadmap was crafted after a sharp rebuke by the Sadc Troika, which demanded that Zimbabwe's inclusive government "find an uninterrupted path to free and fair elections and removal of all impediments".

It states that a presidential proclamation of elections can only be made in agreement with the prime minister, thereby putting a damper on Mugabe and Zanu PF's insistence in recent months that the president had absolute authority to call for early elections.

This supports Tsvangirai's assertions in his New Zimbabwe Lecture series speech delivered in February in which he said: "Thus, the timing of the next elections is not dictated by when, but under what conditions they will be held. And I want to tell you today, that executive authority in this country is shared and the president has no power to announce an election date without consulting the prime minister. We have to agree on a date, having satisfied ourselves to the existence of electoral conditions that will not produce another contested outcome."

The roadmap highlights the signposts that must be put up and milestones to be implemented before the next election can be held.

The negotiators will meet Sadc-appointed facilitator South African President Jacob Zuma's facilitation team of Charles Nqakula, Mac Maharaj and Lindiwe Zulu in Cape Town on May 6 and 7 to evaluate progress made and resolve outstanding issues ahead of a full Sadc summit in Namibia later in the month.

According to the final draft roadmap, the three political parties that form Zimbabwe's shaky coalition government agreed on the delimitation of constituencies, nomination of candidates, printing of ballot papers, activation of liaison committees, particularly at local levels, and polling.

In previous elections, polling stations were not accessible to voters and they were not adequately manned. Monitors and observers were not given free access to the polling stations and this worked in favour of Zanu PF.

The three parties also agreed on the announcement of election results. There was confusion in the 2008 elections when the announcement of results was delayed, leading to accusations of rigging.