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Zimbabwe Briefing Issue 35
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (SA Regional Office)
July 20, 2011

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Negotiators sign elections roadmap with timelines

Negotiators for Zimbabwe's three main political parties, ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations, on July 6 agreed to, and signed an elections roadmap with timelines. However, the roadmap submitted to the principals (Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara) still contains areas of disagreement and deadlock. The Roadmap to Zimbabwe's elections is described in the signed document as defining 'milestones and signposts that must be executed and implemented before the next harmonized elections.'

The timelines for finalizing the constitutional reform process up to the national referendum were left to the Constitutional Select Committee of Parliament (COPAC) to determine with a proviso that presidential assent to the approved constitution (if approved) should be given within 60 days from date of referendum. On media reforms, the parties agreed that licensing of new broadcasters should be achieved within 120 days from 1 August 2011 and establishment of the Media Council of Zimbabwe within 60 days from 1 August 2011. Enactment of agreed electoral amendments was to be done within 45 days from 6 July 2011 while voter education, voter registration and the process of preparing a new voters' roll was cumulatively given a total of eight months.

Areas of the deadlock include the staffing of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) which the MDC-T wants done afresh (to ensure non-partisanship) while ZANU-PF insists there should be no changes to ZEC staff. Further, ZANU-PF is opposed to a submission by the MDC formations that security forces should be instructed to 'issue a public statement that they will unequivocally uphold the Constitution and respect the rule of law in the lead up to and following any election or referendum. ZANU-PF insists this is not an election matter.

In response to a call by MDC formations for an end to military and police abuse of the rule of law and an end to all state-sponsored violence ZANU-PF claims no knowledge of abuse or state-sponsored violence. ZANU-PF also denies that there are serving soldiers deployed across the country and there rejects calls for redeployment of the military to their barracks.

ZANU-PF is also opposed to calls by MDC-T to bring the operations of the central intelligence organization (CIO) under legislative control. The final point of deadlock is on election monitors where ZANU-PF has rejected the proposal by MDC-T for a presence of SADC and other African monitors 6 months prior to and 6 months after the elections.

The roadmap signed by negotiators confirms the widely held view that elections in 2011 are not feasible; if the roadmap is fully implemented properly then the earliest dates for elections will be after May 2012.

The areas of deadlock are the most fundamental and therefore it is critical that there is agreement on them. Given recent political statements by members of the military, it is absolutely essential that there be a security sector re-alignment sealed by a public statement by military chiefs committing to respect the rule of law. All soldiers currently deployed across the country should return to their barracks and should not interfere in the electoral affairs of the country. Experiences of the 2008 violent election have underlined the need for robust and long-term monitoring of the electoral situation in Zimbabwe.

It is hoped that SADC and the AU will insist on an early deployment of monitors to prevent violence and ensure peace.

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