Zimbabwe to introduce poll reforms in by-election

Zimbabwe to introduce poll reforms in by-election

CHINAMASA

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By Agencies

ZIMBABWE will introduce some electoral reforms in a by-election this year to fill a parliamentary seat left vacant by the death of an opposition legislator, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Thursday.

President Robert Mugabe, under pressure from the opposition and his southern African neighbours, last month pledged wide-ranging electoral reforms before next March's parliamentary elections.

The reforms, backed at a regional level by this week's summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Mauritius, follow widespread criticism of Mugabe's re-election in 2002, which both the opposition and some Western powers claim was rigged.

Chinamasa said the new reforms to be introduced on a trial basis in the Seke constituency just outside Harare did not require ratification by parliament. The seat fell vacant with the death of MP Tumbare Mutasa.

He said in the poll, expected before the end of the year, voting would be conducted in one day instead of the traditional two days and ballot papers would be counted at separate voting centres rather than one centralised location.

"There are other electoral reforms which we cannot introduce but there are those we can introduce without any legislative intervention," Chinamasa was quoted by state television as saying.

"I have communicated this to electoral officials and I have indicated that we will have as a trial run some of the election reforms we have proposed during the by-election in Seke," Chinamasa said.

Other proposed reforms including the establishment of an independent election body need parliamentary approval.

The reforms have been largely welcomed by the opposition Movment for Democratic Change (MDC) as a step toward free and fair elections, although Mugabe's critics say the long-time ruler has often resorted to other means, including intimidating voters, to secure victory at the polls.
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