SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has been told by the Principals to sit down with Finance Minister Tendai Biti and MDC President Welshman Ncube to craft a ‘document by consensus’, which will reflect the position of the government in its inclusive nature. This will then be filed before the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
This latest development comes a day after Chinamasa unilaterally filed a court application requesting an extension of the July 31st poll date, without consulting the MDC parties in the coalition government. The MDC-T said the application that Chinamasa submitted was designed to fail, making it easy for the court to reject it as ZANU PF are keen to have an early election.
Biti wrote on his Facebook page, saying that the court needs to be persuaded that there are good reasons for moving the date: “Chinamasa goes to the ConCourt and pleads one basis for the application, namely, that he is only making the application on the directive of a foreign body viz SADC.”
Biti added: “In the application Chinamasa in fact disowns any reference to the logic of why Zimbabwe needs a postponement. In fact in paragraph 16 of the affidavit he virtually makes an apology for bringing the application and says he only does because a foreign body SADC has directed him to do so.”
Chinamasa said he was in a meeting when we contacted him for comment.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told SW Radio Africa that President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Ncube agreed that the new “application will replace whatever paper was written purportedly on behalf of government, because this is an inclusive government.”
The coalition partners continued bickering among themselves on Wednesday after the MDC formations accused Chinamasa of filing the application while consultations on the way forward were under way.
During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting the parties had agreed that the Principals should convene an urgent meeting on Wednesday to discuss the ConCourt appeal and also to decide on whether or not to send to parliament the amendments to the Electoral Bill, passed by the cabinet last week, including establishing a clear election roadmap as a collective.
The MDCs say ZANU PF heavyweights had ‘boycotted’ the session in Cabinet that discussed the need for a meeting on Wednesday.
The ZANU PF big wigs included Emerson Mnangangwa, Nicholas Goche, Sydney Sekeremayi and Ignatius Chombo and they only attended Cabinet for an hour in which they discussed the movement of grain in the country and the water level in dams.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said ZANU PF did not give the MDCs any indication that Chinamasa was going to file the court application.
“What Minister Chinamasa has done is to file an application that is destined to fail. He has filed an application that is shoddy, that is incompetent and that he knows no reasonable court may grant,” Mwonzora revealed.
The political parties agreed at the regional SADC grouping in Mozambique last weekend to approach the court for a two week extension, so as to prepare the necessary electoral process needed for a credible poll.
But Mwonzora said the SADC resolution does not give a date: “What the resolution does is it gives the Zimbabwean authorities time to do the reforms but it does not confine these reforms to the two weeks that Chinamasa wants to put.”
Human rights lawyer Alan Deve said what is happening is probably the only way to inculcate a democratic and constitutional adherence culture. He said: “I like the angle of getting the system right for posterity.”
Observers say it is clear that the politicians are now playing games with this election process and what Zimbabweans are seeing is nothing more than political gamesmanship.
Analysts say it would appear the coalition actors are constantly trying to find ways in which they can outwit each other to win the election.
In the meantime the former ruling party is in high gear performing a ‘comprehensive primary election process,’ in preparation for their one day internal polls on Monday.
Other observers believe that what is happening shows desperation from ZANU PF, as the approach is combative and the party is making mistakes. Last week Biti said there is a chaos faction in ZANU PF that is bent on putting up barriers whenever there is progress.
This theory would imply that President Mugabe is not in control of this ‘chaos faction’ but that is an idea that many would find hard to believe as the 89 year old leader is seen as a powerful head of the Politburo, the Commander in Chief, a ruthless head of government and nothing of a political nature happens in Zimbabwe unless it is ‘okayed’ by him.
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