Mugabe calls senate poll for November, MDC undecided

Mugabe calls senate poll for November, MDC undecided

• Msekiwa Makwanya: the MDC, the senate and boycott politics

• Morgan Tsvangirai: The senate, what's in it for the people?

• Grace Kwinjeh: No to senate elections!

• Kwinjeh attacks MDC senate poll participation

• MDC to contest for senate seats

• Prof Jonathan Moyo: New amendments should face battle royal

• New constitutional moves 'will not fly'

• Chinamasa slammed over 'exit visa' threat

• Innocent C Sithole: The MDC and culture of prevarication

• MDC wants to give senate a miss

• Prof Welshman Ncube: Constitutional reforms recipe for disaster

• Zim denies plot to curtail critics' travel

• Dr Alex Magaisa: Constitution without Constitutionalism

• Lucas Nkomo: The right to revolt against tyranny

• Tawanda Hove: Constitutional reforms and MDC mess

• US says Zim moves 'a sad step backwards'

• Rights groups condemn constitutional moves

• Paul Themba Nyathi: Dark day for democracy

• Parliament passes amendment bill

• Prof Jonathan Moyo: Constitutional madness will not save Zanu PF

• MDC ambush Zanu PF with draft constitution

• Zim tables bill to amend constitution

• Lawyers condemn constitutional amendment

• Aspiring Zanu PF senator dies of poisoning

• Alex Magaisa: Constitutional amendment spells doom for economy

• Chinamasa admits Zanu PF has no two thirds

• Zimbabwe opposition snubs Mugabe

• Zimbabwe senate will last only 5 years

• Moyo fights constitutional amendment

• Mugabe recalls Zimbabwe parliament

• Zanu PF accelerates Senate plans

• Mugabe appoints nephew to new Cabinet

• Mugabe to extend term

• Moyo on opposition benches as MPs sworn in

• Mugabe appoints governors, Cabinet expected

• Mugabe vows to rule for a century

By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe has set the end of November to hold elections for an upper-house senate, which the main opposition has said it may boycott.

Analysts said indecision by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) could cost it seats if it decides to contest.

The privately-owned Daily Mirror quoted Mugabe as telling a meeting of his ruling Zanu PF that his party was gearing for "senatorial elections which are scheduled for end of November."

Mugabe used the Zanu PF's majority in parliament to push through constitutional amendments in August, making provisions for a 66-member senate, of which 50 members will be elected while the rest will be appointed.

Mugabe argues that the senate is necessary to improve the quality of legislation while the MDC says it is meant to accommodate Mugabe supporters.

The MDC has yet to make a decision, with top officials making conflicting comments on their position on the polls.

It agonised over whether to boycott parliamentary elections on March 31, eventually deciding to field candidates only to receive a severe drubbing from Zan PF, which won a two-thirds majority, enabling it to change the constitution.

The MDC and Western governments said the polls were rigged.

MDC officials were unavailable for comment on Saturday but party leader Morgan Tsvangirai wrote in a weekly paper on Thursday that the senate polls were insignificant and would still be rigged by Zanu PF.

"From the MDC, my position as president remains unchanged. Anyone wishing to partake in this process should therefore refrain from crying foul because Zanu PF's intentions are as clear as the September sky," Tsvangirai said in his article in the Finacial Gazette.

But Welshman Ncube, MDC secretary general and some senior officials have said the opposition would contest the polls, which was seen by the media as a sign of a rift in MDC ranks.

Analysts said the bickering would eventually cost the MDC if it decides to field candidates.

"This is confusing the electorate and it could backfire as some of their supporters may decide not to vote because the party's position is not clear," Heneri Dzinotyiweyi, University of Zimbabwe lecturuer, told Reuters.

The southern African country is struggling with a severe political and economic crisis that government critics blame on Mugabe's controversial policies, including his seizures of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks and his use of tough media and security laws against opponents.

Mugabe says his opponents have conspired with foreigners to sabotage Zimbabwe's economy over his land seizures, which he argues were necessary to correct colonial imbalances that left minority whites in control of the bulk of the prime farmland - Reuters
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