Daily News

By Wendy Muperi

10 June 2013

HARARE - Zimbabweans should fight for their democratic voting right by registering as voters in the forthcoming watershed election.

Education minister and Senator, David Coltart told citizens to take advantage of the second voter registration and inspection exercise which commences today nationwide.

“The intensive national exercise of voter registration and inspection of the voters roll starts tomorrow. I urge everyone to use this opportunity at the very least to check if they are on the voters roll and also to get registered if they have not done so before.

“Now is not the time to be apathetic. If we   are apathetic then those opposed to democratic  reform and the positive transformation of our nation could win this election by default. So please from tomorrow ACT and encourage all those around you to ACT,” posted the minister on Facebook.

Because of “prohibitive” registration requirements, many aspiring first time voters were turned away.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is in an uneasy power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe, also had a first-hand experience of the hassles first-time voters are faced with when he tried to register his 18-year-old twins.

Civil society also slammed the process that has seen thousands of potential voters being turned away.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and civic society concurred that the first mobile voter registration exercise was chaotic forcing Cabinet to proclaim another exercise.

According to the Constitutional Court ruling, Zimbabwe is set to hold elections by July 31 this year but the two MDC formations and other smaller parties are contesting the judgment citing

Contrary to the only two registration teams per district during the first exercise, four teams have been assigned to ensure that every ward country-wide is covered during the exercise, the registrar general Tobaiwa Mudede said in the media.

The exercise is expected to end on July 9.

Centres are supposed to open from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday while during weekends they will close two hours earlier.

But during the first exercise, on several occasions teams retired before appointed closing times.

Treasury is said to have poured $25 million for the exercise which will pave way for the holding of harmonised elections as the inclusive government’s life-span draws to a close on the 29th of this month.

Afrocomplete Online News

8 June 2013

Official Statement from David Coltart, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in Zimbabwe

Biography

David Coltart, MDC Senator, has been a human rights lawyer in Zimbabwe since his return to the country in 1983. He was first elected to represent the Bulawayo South House of Assembly constituency in June 2000, and was re-elected in March 2005. In March 2008 he was elected as a Senator to represent the Khumalo Senatorial constituency in Bulawayo. Senator Coltart was sworn in as Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in February 2009.

Monday the 3rd June has come and gone without the intensive minimum 30 day voter registration and inspection period mandated by section 6(3) of the 6th Schedule of the Constitution starting. In fact I am reliably informed that the exercise will not start tomorrow as there are major logistical problems still to be overcome. There certainly has been no advertisement regarding where the voting registration centres will be located yet and so it is unlikely that the exercise will even get underway on Wednesday.

In any event one of the first logistical problems I warned of on Saturday is about to arise. If one works back from the date set for the election by the Constitutional Court, the 31st July, the problem will become apparent. Section 38(1)!a)(ii) of the current Electoral Act states that there must be a minimum period of 28 days from the nomination court date until the election. Which means that the nomination court must sit at the latest by the 3rd July for the 28 day period to be squeezed in before the 31st July.

On nomination day there has to be a voters roll because those seeking to be nominated have to be on the voters roll. Likewise in terms of section 46(1)(a) of the current Electoral Act anyone seeking nomination to Parliament must secure the signatures of at least 10 people whose names are on the voters roll. So in other words by the 3rd July, the latest possible date for the nomination court in terms of the timetable set by the Constitutional Court, there must be a voters roll containing the names of all those who have sought registration as voters. Without that voters roll no-one can be nominated.

We then need to go back where we started – namely section 6(3) of the 6th Schedule – that mandates a minimum period of 30 days of registration AND INSPECTION. What is the purpose of inspection? Obviously to check that one’s name is on the voters roll and the names of those who one wants to support one’s nomination are on the voters roll. In other words a final voters roll for the purposes of nomination cannot be produced until at the very least the 30 day period has been completed. As of midnight tonight it will be impossible to have this mandatory 30 period end prior to the last date for the nomination court to sit namely the 3rd July.

Accordingly with effect from midnight tonight the date of the 31st July set for the election, under any minimalistic or narrow interpretation of the electoral process (ie even ignoring all the other electoral challenges such as producing a voters roll in such a short space of time and the funding of the entire exercise), becomes legally and constitutionally impossible.

It goes without saying that every day now that the voter registration exercise does not commence leads to greater and greater absurdities and breaches of these fundamental provisions. Those who are promoting this state of affairs, are at risk of making themselves the laughing stock of SADC and indeed the world if this absurd situation is allowed to continue.

The Zimbabwean

By Sokwanele

7 June 2013

Zimbabwe Election Watch Issue 3 is written in the wake of a Constitutional Court ruling handed down on 31 May which compels the President to hold elections before 31 July 2013. This ZEW summary focuses primarily on the ensuing issues raised by the ruling.

The case was brought before the courts by Jealously Mawarire, a private citizen, a registered voter and a member of the Centre for Election Democracy in Southern Africa. His complaint was that his constitutional rights to have elections before the 30th June had been violated by the failure to do so by the President.

The court ruling follows endless disputes between the three main parties on when elections should be held. Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party has been adamant that elections should be held earlier – 29 June 2013 was their preferred date – while the MDC parties have insisted on September/October as a more reasonable time. The later date, the MDCs and others have argued, allows time for necessary legislation to be passed following the acceptance of a new constitution, and also allows time for reforms to be implemented as agreed in the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Zanu PF is resisting implementing reforms, and their push for an early election date has been seen as one way for them to secure elections without reforms.

The court ruling also comes one week before the Southern African Development Community (SADC) holds a special summit on 9 and 10 June 2013 in Mozambique to discuss and approve a roadmap for Zimbabwe’s elections.

How the various parties respond to the ruling will have consequences for clauses in the SADC electoral guidelines. Two of these are of particular concern to election weary and violence wary ordinary Zimbabweans: in particular, 4.1.1 compelling governments to protect the constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of the citizens, and 4.1.2 asking governments to provide a conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections.

Zanu PF has responded with support for the date: Robert Mugabe has said he will comply with the ruling and hold elections before 31 July regardless of objections from his rivals (http://bit.ly/13wQMvg). And both MDCs have publically recognised the importance of the rule of law and their willingness to comply with it: Douglas Mwonzora, spokesperson for MDC-T, said “For the avoidance of any doubt, the MDC is ready for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. That means for the MDC, the issue is not about the date of the elections, is about the conditions under which these elections are held” (http://bit.ly/17og5Fk). Welshman Ncube, MDC leader, has said “We all need to respect court judgments because not to do so invites anarchy” (http://ht.ly/lILYh).

Despite stated support for the principle of the rule of law, the two MDC parties have also expressed serious reservations over the rightness of the ruling. Welshman Ncube, himself a constitutional lawyer, wrote:

No court of law should ask us to believe and accept that 1 plus 1 equals 3. I have read and reread the majority judgment over and over, again and again and I have read again and again the provisions of the former constitution and the current constitution that fell for interpretation and my mind refuses to accept the possibility of the correctness of that judgment.

To accept that judgment as correct would amount to me committing grave violence on my intellect. With the greatest respect, the majority judgment is PLAINLY wrong. One plus one is not three. Yes, the judgment binds us and we have to comply with it to the extent that it will be possible to do so, but we cannot accept that it is correct when it is plainly wrong (ibid.)

The MDC-T said:

The case was clearly sponsored by the chaos faction of Zanu PF to achieve three results. First, it was to force an election in June 2013. Second, it was to enable President Mugabe to singularly set the election date without consulting the Prime Minister as is required by the Global Political Agreement. Third, it was to force elections in Zimbabwe without the necessary reforms. Fourth, it was to avoid the election being in proximity of the UNWTO (http://on.fb.me/11htt5J).

The MDC-T has also inferred that they believe the recent appointment of two new judges to the bench was Zanu PF’s way of securing judicial advantage for their party in cases like this one. They argue that Robert Mugabe swore in the judges before he assented to the new constitution, and in so doing bypassed the more rigorous new conditions for judicial appointments enshrined in the new constitution. There is clear precedent for Zanu PF influencing judicial appointments that dates back through the last decade right up until the current time: in ZEW Issue 1, for example, we highlighted the current harassment of Justice Charles Hungwe following two judgements he made which did not support the political agenda of Zanu PF hardliners.

Senator Coltart, MDC Secretary for Legal Affairs, has also identified a fundamental contradiction in the Constitutional Court ruling, and that is that if all parties are to comply with the ruling, then the only way they can do so is to break the law. He points out that the new constitution specifies a minimum 30 day period for voter registration and inspection exercise which is a fundamental precursor for nomination courts. He points out that the new constitution demands a further 30 days between nomination day and election day:

I am writing this as plainly as I can! 30 days plus 30 days equals 60 days. Today is the 5th June 2013. Add 60 days to that and you will see we get to the 5th August.

Unless we amend the Constitution to reduce the days mentioned above an election held on the 31st July will be unconstitutional and therefore unlawful. That is hardly the best way to start this new Constitutional era (http://on.fb.me/11htt5J).

The confusion and discussion will make its way to the SADC summit this weekend and pressure will be on SADC to broker a way forward. Five of Zimbabwe’s political leaders have come together (leaders representing MDC-T, ZAPU, MDC, MKD and ZANU Ndonga) to form a joint position demanding that political and electoral reforms are implemented before the next harmonized elections. In a statement released yesterday, the five said:

The leaders expressed reservations about the practicality of the July 31st deadline set by the court and resolved that they will communicate their position to SADC. The parties therefore, look forward to the extra ordinary SADC summit to affirm previous SADC resolutions and the agreed roadmap to elections.

SADC, via the office of Jacob Zuma, the South African President and facilitator of Zimbabwe’s GPA, has provided some indication for the focus of the meeting:

With or without the court ruling, we are going ahead to meet the parties as the facilitation team ahead of the SADC summit (to be held in Mozambique on Sunday), which (decision) was agreed on during the summit held in Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia, two weeks ago). All parties have been invited.

As the facilitator put it at the summit, we want the comfort of having a clear roadmap to the elections, with timelines agreed upon by the parties themselves. The ultimate is to have credible elections. We want to avoid the 2008 scenario” (Lindiwe Zulu - http://bit.ly/1b3KMg1).

ZEW continues to log breaches of the SADC electoral principles and guidelines throughout, and eight examples of breaches since Issue 2 are outlined below.

The new voter registration drive, as required under the new constitution, was due to start on Monday this week (3 June) but will now only start on 10 June 2013 and run-up until 9 July 2013. The previous registration drive was plagued by problems right up until it concluded. Examples of breaches affecting voter registration in this ZEW issue include funding shortages, an admission by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson that the exercise was chaotic, and a serious concern raised by the Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development deputy minister Jessie Majome, who noted that the registration exercise disenfranchised women:

Proof of residence disenfranchises women because of the nature of the society we live in. There are very few women who can claim to own a house, let alone a lease agreement in their name.

Majome’s point is a violation of SADC electoral guideline 4.1.3 which compels signatory states to ensure non-discrimination in voters’ registration. And when the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs attempted to visit voter registration centres to monitor and inspect the voters’ roll countrywide, their permission to travel was refused by the Clerk of Parliament. Silobela MP, Anadi Sululu, who is also a committee member, described the decision as ‘political’.

Police obstacles to meetings and voter education continued. Two examples: in Hwange, police falsely accused Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) officials of illegally carrying out voter education in the region. They confiscated hundreds of materials meant for distribution in the area to encourage people to register to vote. Simba Makoni, leader of the Mavambo / Kusile / Dawn (MKD) party, had police permission to hold a meeting with the Norton Community withdrawn only hours before the meeting was scheduled to start.

Finally, in previous ZEW issues we have highlighted extreme partisanship on the part of security sector leaders. In this issue, three police officers found themselves charged with contravening the Police Act because they attended a political rally – an allegation they deny. The difference in this case is that the police officers apparently attended an MDC-T ralley. Noting the very different approaches to these men and the heads of the security sector, Zimbabweans will infer that political partisanship is acceptable within the security sector, provided it is supportive of the Zanu PF party.

News Day

By News Day Reporter

7 June 2013

THE MDC secretary for legal affairs David Coltart yesterday said there is need to go back to the Constitutional Court to ask it to reverse its decision ordering the holding of elections by July 31 as it has caused a constitutional crisis.

Coltart, in a statement, said the commencement of the mandatory 30-day voter registration on Monday next week means the earliest possible date of holding elections was August 9.

“Given our current helter-skelter approach to the electoral process let us assume that the nomination courts will sit immediately after the final voters roll has been produced on 10th July,” Coltart said.

“That is when the other aspect of section 157(3) of the Constitution applies — namely the provision that there needs to be a period of at least 30 days between the nomination court date and the election itself. In short, it means that given Mudede’s statement (on voter registration starting on July 9) the election cannot under any circumstances be held lawfully and in compliance with the Constitution before the 9th August 2013.”

The Constitutional court last week ordered President Robert Mugabe to ensure polls were held by July 31.

Coltart said the way out of the Constitutional quagmire was to go back to the Constitutional Court to get a fresh court order enabling the country not to be in “contravention of other electoral provisions” and indeed the Constitution itself.”

The Chronicle

By Pamela Shumba

7 June 2013

THOUSANDS of pupils in Bulawayo cannot read or write and are performing far below their form levels in Mathematics, the Bulawayo provincial Education Director, Mr Dan Moyo, revealed yesterday. Addressing delegates at the official launch of the Performance Lag Address

Programme (PLAP), for Bulawayo, at Coghlan Primary School yesterday, Mr Moyo said a pilot project conducted in the province revealed that a majority of pupils were performing far below expected levels.

PLAP is a programme designed to address learning anomalies and eradicate zero percent pass rates in schools.

It identifies the level or grade at which pupils stopped grasping learning concepts and accelerates their understanding to the level it should be at.

Mr Moyo said the shocking results came out after pupils from 30 primary schools and 30 secondary schools in the province were tested in a survey in Mathematics, reading and spellings.

He said of the 21 845 pupils tested at secondary school, 19 861 were performing below expected levels, while 527 were performing at the expected level and 1 457 performed above expected levels.

“At primary level, out of a total of about 11 086, an average of 6 273 primary school pupils tested in the pilot study are operating below their expected grade levels.

“Only 1 397 primary school pupils are performing at the expected grade levels and 3 416 are performing above their grade levels,” said Mr Moyo.

He expressed concern over the shocking statistics but was optimistic that PLAP would tremendously improve the pupils’ performance, saying he expected heads of schools, teachers and parents to take PLAP seriously.

“As Bulawayo province, these results are our indicator. No doubt we have experienced negative results and we need to adjust the environment such that we start yielding positive results. We are definitely going to have higher pass rates, a competent and confident young generation, which in turn will give us an adult generation of effective and efficient problem solvers and decision makers,” said Mr Moyo.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Mrs Constance Chigwamba said PLAP had proved that it could boost the academic achievement of learners in all subjects.

“This programme was first tried out in one of the provinces and public examination results began to improve. The programme begins by assessing the functional level of every learner and comparing these to what is expected at their level.

“If the learner lags behind, the teacher conducts remedial lessons on a regular basis. Extra reading and Mathematics exercises are provided and in most cases she or he begins to improve in a relatively short time,” she said.

Mrs Chigwamba commended Bulawayo province for embracing and according the programme the recognition it deserved, saying PLAP was one of the support programmes for those experiencing different types of disadvantages.

She said literacy was the key to the development of any nation because one could read words, calculate numbers, make wise decisions and be a responsible and productive citizen.

The programme will start operating in Bulawayo schools on Monday.

It has already been launched, with notable success in Manicaland and Matabeleland North and is set to spread to the rest of the country.

Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart graced the occasion, together with senior officials from his ministry, the Public Service Commission and tertiary institutions, councillors, education officers, teachers and parents.

Bloomberg Business Week 

By Brian Latham

6 June 2013

Zimbabwe can’t hold general elections by a July 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court without violating the constitution, according to Senator David Coltart.

There isn’t enough time for the registration of voters that ends July 9 and the nomination of candidates 30 days before a vote as the constitution stiplulates, Coltart, a lawyer and secretary for legal affairs in a faction of the Movement for Democratic Change party, said today on his website.

“The election cannot under any circumstances be held lawfully and in compliance with the constitution before the 9th August 2013,” he said.

Coltart made his statement as the 15-nation Southern African Development Community prepares to discuss Zimbabwe’s elections at a June 9 meeting in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly called for an early vote, while both factions of the MDC have said the May 31 Supreme Court ruling was unconstitutional and unfeasible.

The electoral commission yesterday described the voters’ roll as a “shambles,” Newsday, based in the capital, Harare, reported. The body said an election date must be at least 44 days after voter registration is completed.

Mugabe, 89, has ruled the southern African nation since its independence from the U.K. more than three decades ago.

He shares power with the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and a smaller faction of the party led by Welshman Ncube, a law professor. The five-year power-sharing agreement was brokered by SADC after it declared elections in 2008 void because of violence mainly against MDC supporters.

Southern Eye

by Nduduzo Tshuma

6 June 2013

Zanu PF is going all out to entice voters ahead of the next election, with the party now sending text messages, even to political opponents, pleading for the endorsement of President Robert Mugabe.

The party started dispatching messages on Monday, as it seeks to woe voters, particularly the youth who have turned their backs on the party.

“Are you a young and progressive Zimbabwean? Have you ever voted before?

“Do you want to help the economy by creating jobs yourself and for many young Zimbabweans?” the text reads.

“President Mugabe is your answer! Register to vote today and vote for indigenisation and empowerment in the next elections.”

Zanu PF, accused of being out of touch with the young voters, has launched a full-scale campaign targetting the youth, taking advantage of new media.

Some of the recipients of the text messages include Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart and Alpha Media Holdings chief executive officer, Raphael Khumalo.

Coltart yesterday confirmed receiving the text message and expressed concern over how Zanu PF got hold of people’s mobile phone numbers.

“I think it’s not a bad thing using technology to spread the word, but I trust that the mobile service provider would accord the same service to other political parties,” he said.

“There is a concern, however, on the issue of protection of privacy.

“People do not want their phone numbers to be known and we wonder how Zanu PF got hold of those numbers.”

Upon receiving the message, the Education minister joked that the messages could have been misdirected, as he was not young.

Zanu PF is making frantic efforts to appeal to the youth and is reportedly courting prominent personalities to boost its performance in the polls.

There are reports that the party plans to use former Big Brother contestant, Munyaradzi Chidzonga, while a Zanu PF member pleaded with soccer legend Peter Ndlovu to contest elections on its platform.

Ndlovu turned down the offer.

Mugabe, at 89, is pulling all the stops to rebrand himself and his party, as elections loom.

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo yesterday professed ignorance on the matter.

“I do not know anything about that. I have not seen the messages you are talking about,” he said.

Southern Eye

By Dumisani Nkomo

6 June 2013

BULAWAYO is famed as the City of Kings largely due to its rich epic regal history of King Mzilikazi and Lobengula Khumalo and the Mambos before them.

Is Bulawayo, or more generally Matabeleland, or even more broadly the southern region of the country, able to produce an individual that can lead the whole country or is Matabeleland doomed to be a perpetual political bridesmaid? I am in no doubt that Matabeleland is capable of producing a president, but the question is; are Zimbabweans ready to elect a leader by virtue of the content of his/her character or leadership acumen rather than ethnicity as is the norm in Africa?

I would not like to live in a country where I or my children and kinsmen cannot dream of occupying the highest office in the land. Obviously to dream is one thing and to attain it is another, but at least every Zimbabwean should be able to contest for political office and indeed aspire even to be president. Surely Jason Ziyapapa Moyo and Josiah Tongogara died for a Zimbabwe in which any Zimbabwean of any ethnic group or race cannot only vote, but also be voted into any office including that of head of State and government.

The historical political architecture of the land seems to suggest that on many occasions Zimbabweans have displayed an ability to transcend ethnicity as evidenced by the ethnic diversity of nascent nationalism under the leadership of the likes of Benjamin Burombo, Stanlake Samkange and more prominently, Joshua Nkomo.

The nationalist movement at one point seemed poised for leadership of a Ndebele, Joshua Nkomo, until the emergence of Zanu under Ndabaningi Sithole and it can be argued that some Zanu protagonists, including Enos Nkala, were not necessarily Shona. Some argue that Zanu was formed out of ideological rather than ethnic considerations, but it is irrefutable that the genesis of Zanu was accompanied by the systematic tribalisation of politics.

The problem has become so bad that almost every political party formed has a Ndebele vice-president and a Shona president.

It has become political culture for political parties to follow this trend, but the bigger question is whether Simon Khaya Moyo, Thokozani Khuphe or Lovemore Moyo could be leaders of their parties if the incumbents left office or they will remain as vice-presidents or national chairpersons.

In the same vein, can Welshman Ncube or Dumiso Dabengwa contest for the national presidency and win or lose by dint of their acumen rather than their ethnic origin? If not, I fear Zimbabwe is headed for troublesome times, as I don’t see future generations or indeed this one willing to be perpetual hewers of wood and drawers of water in a later day political feudal system which will reduce them to perennial deputies.

It is not necessarily about whether one is Ndebele or Shona, but rather content, ability, acumen and capacity to lead the state. It does not matter whether one is black or pink, speaks Ndau or Sotho, it should simply be based on merit. David Coltart or Eddie Cross can stand for the presidency as long as they can deliver as head of State and government .

This is the reason why arguably the most powerful country on the planet is led by a black man. It is not because he is black, but rather because he was able to galvanise the electorate and country around his ideals. Importantly, the national political architecture — in spite of years of systematic racism — allowed for a man such as Barack Obama to emerge and lead. I would like to suggest that ethnicity should not be the sole and defining determinant of our political choices.

Can a candidate from Matabeleland contest and win in the 2013 elections and beyond? Can Matabeleland, the Midlands and possibly Masvingo, produce politicians that are not mere political ornaments bequeathed upon the people through the patronage of ethnic balancing?

Welshman Ncube faces an uphill task in the elections because of the embedded dominance of Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. Can he contest on an equal footing with Mugabe and Tsvangirai or will he carry the added weight of ethnicity upon his shoulders? It would be disappointing, however, if people voted on tribal grounds .

The good news is that the generation that will vote in 2018 will comprise mainly of not only born-frees, but new millennium, techno-centric youths born as late as 2000.

It will be a generation that did not see the liberation struggle, Ian Smith, “dissidents”, or the post- independence turbulence. It will be a generation that requires a new breed of leaders who appeal across the ethnic divide.

As to whether a candidate from Matabeleland can win the 2013 elections, I have my strong doubts. For now Matabeleland will be a kingmaker, but as for 2018 and beyond, Bulawayo and Matabeleland will be the seat of kings and queens in a literal political sense.

SW Radio Africa

By Tichaona Sibanda

6 June 2013

The SADC summit on Zimbabwe, which was due in Maputo, Mozambique on Sunday, will now be held in Pretoria, South Africa on Monday, according to sources.

SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that the summit was postponed by a day to give all parties to the GPA enough time to consult on a date for elections.

President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team spent hours on Thursday in meetings with GPA negotiators in Harare. They were insisting that by the time all parties attend the summit, there should be an agreed date for an election.

This prompted the ZANU PF negotiators to ask for a postponement to allow its negotiators time to consult President Robert Mugabe, who is currently outside the country.

The summit on Zimbabwe is due to be convened at a time when there is mounting disagreement between the political parties following the Constitutional Court ruling that Mugabe should proclaim an election date before July 31st.

The ruling last week suits Robert Mugabe better than his political opponents, who have however ganged up in a rare show of unity to condemn the court’s election ruling. The five parties – the MDC-T, MDC-N, ZAPU, MKD and ZANU Ndonga – have united to demand changes to laws that inhibit freedom of association, movement and expression and the media.

They have agreed to speak with one voice at the SADC summit to call for the security sector to be reformed in line with the new constitution, which demands neutrality.

That court judgment, described as an ‘election judgment fiasco’ by a leading human rights lawyer, dominated much of the discussion between Zuma’s team and the GPA negotiators.

While all parties, including Zuma’s team, were trying to abide by the court ruling and work out if it was feasible to hold elections before 31st July, legal experts say it will not be possible.

Senator David Coltart, the Education Minister and MDC-N secretary for Legal Affairs, told SW Radio Africa that while it is the duty of everybody to respect the court ruling, it brings with it a big challenge for politicians and Mugabe.

‘The dilemma we find ourselves in is that it is impossible to hold elections in compliance with that court judgement without breaking other provisions of the new constitution.

‘In essence, the new constitution says we must go through a 30 day process to re-register voters. And subsequent to that is a period specified by the constitution that there should be another 30 day period between nomination day and the election itself. Nomination day starts immediately after voter registration. So you are looking at 60 days from June 10th when voter registration starts,’ Coltart said.

He continued: ‘These two processes cannot run concurrently. They have to run separately. There is no way round it and it is clear these constitutional requirements will go beyond July 31st.’

The Minister suggested it would be wise for Mugabe and any other interested party to approach the constitutional court and ask the bench to revise the order.