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Joint Presidential, Parliamentary elections
Hebert Zharare, The Sunday News (Zimbabwe)
September 24, 2006

http://www1.sundaynews.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=3059&cat=1

ZANU-PF is consulting party members and will soon lobby Parliament on the possibility of Zimbabwe holding joint Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 2010, a senior official has revealed.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Sunday News yesterday on the sidelines of the two-day Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA) workshop in Vumba, the Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity, Dr Nathan Shamuyarira, said the ruling party is consulting whether to hold the Presidential election in 2008 or to push it to 2010.

According to the Constitution and in the absence of a Constitutional amendment, the next Presidential election is scheduled for 2008 while the next poll for the House of Assembly is pencilled in for 2010. However, pushing the Presidential election forward to 2010 would enable the nation to hold joint Presidential and Parliamentary polls.

After the matter is debated, Zanu-PF would have it tabled in Parliament to ensure that a Constitutional amendment is passed, creating the legal framework for the Presidential and Parliamentary elections to be held simultaneously rather than separately as currently obtains, he said.

Dr Shamuyarira said although Zanu-PF is still consulting on whether the Presidential elections would be held in 2008, it has begun preparing for the polls. He said the party was likely to push for joint Presidential-Parliamentary elections to be held in 2010.

"We want to combine the two, the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, so that we do not go to elections every two years. However, that has not been done in Parliament. A Bill should be passed in Parliament, telling us how that should be done. We have been discussing that and we will be putting our ideas to Parliament," he said.

Dr Shamuyarira also revealed that no prospective candidates within the ruling party have forwarded their names and made it public that they want to succeed President Mugabe when he retires.

"No, we have no names wanting to be President, but there are a number of colleagues who are, of course, aspiring to be President. Some are doing it discretely, while others are doing it more openly than others. Let me say that the campaign for the succession is definitely on, but no candidate has announced himself or herself yet.

"We have started preparing for the election (Presidential election) and we are confident that we will win them and there is no doubt about that. There is no opposition because a divided MDC is not going to present a strong challenge," he said.

The workshop ended yesterday with soccer and netball matches that were played at a local school to mark the International Day of Peace, first commemorated in 2002 by the United Nations.

The event is marked annually on 21 September throughout the world. The conference was attended by representatives of African and Nordic embassies, members of the opposition and Zanu-PF.

The executive director of CPIA, Dr Leonard Tawayena Kapungu, said the organization invited some schools from Manicaland, Mashonaland West and Matabeleland to take part in the event.

"We are trying to bring in the young people who do not engage in violence to participate in this event. We have brought in some schools from Mashonaland West, Manicaland and Matabeleland," he said.

CPIA has been commemorating the International Day of Peace, Ceasefire and Non-Violence for the past six years.

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