The Daily Telegraph
10th September 2004
By David Blair, Africa Correspondent
Zimbabwe’s opposition yesterday accused President Robert Mugabe of preparing to rig the next election after a law was published giving him the power to appoint key figures overseeing the poll.
Critics say he has begun a campaign to guarantee victory next March while giving African nations that support him enough grounds to declare the contest free and fair.
The stated purpose of the electoral commission bill is to meet international standards. One of these is for elections to be supervised by an independent commission.
But the draft law gives Mr Mugabe the power to appoint every member of the commission, including its chairman.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change denounced the law as “cynical”. David Coltart, the shadow justice minister, said the proposed reforms were an “attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of Zimbabweans and the international community”.
The MDC has announced that it will boycott all elections unless the regime ends the political violence that has plagued Zimbabwe for the past four years and introduces genuine reforms.
A prominent figure in the opposition, Lovemore Madhuku, leader of the National Constitutional Assembly, was arrested yesterday and charged with organising an illegal demonstration.