THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says it is waiting for a nod from President Robert Mugabe to organise parliamentary and presidential elections.
The ZEC chairwoman Joyce Kazembe said they were ready for elections, just a week after Mugabe said he wanted elections for a new government to replace the 20-month-old unity government he formed with former opposition rivals Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.
Mugabe says he wants the election to be held by mid-2011.
"Our mandate is to implement presidential proclamations as and when they are made. If a proclamation is made, we implement it," Kazembe told the Herald.
Mugabe’s opponents however insist that before elections can be held, Zimbabweans should be allowed to vote on a new constitution, the drafting of which has been severely delayed by at-times violent disagreements between the coalition parties over the content.
Mugabe has ordered Finance Minister Tendai Biti to set aside US$200 million dollars in next year's budget for the polls.
Tsvangirai, who is now Prime Minister, has also talked up the possibility of elections next year, even as analysts warn that hasty polls could see a repeat of the political violence that has characterised all elections since 2000.
The last elections in 2008 turned violent after Mugabe's party lost control of parliament to the MDC and Mugabe was outpolled by Tsvangirai in the first round of voting for president.
African leaders convinced the parties into forming a coalition government to end the violence and stabilise Zimbabwe's battered economy.