Opposition accuses Zimbabwean government of lacking sincerity in holding fair polls

HARARE, March 16 (Xinhua) — Zimbabwe’s biggest opposition party Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused the government of not being sincere
in its commitment to holding free, fair and credible elections by failing
to give a roadmap to the coming polls, MDC presidential spokesperson Luke
Tamborinyoka said.

In a Facebook post following a two-hour meeting of the party’s leadership
with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Advisory
Council Tuesday, Tamborinyoka said party president Nelson Chamisa had
complained that recommendations made by SADC in the 2013 election had not
yet been implemented.  Among those were media reforms that would ensure
equal coverage of all contesting parties.  The SADC team, which is led by
Leshele Thohlane, arrived in Zimbabwe Sunday for a week-long pre-election
assessment mission ahead of polls set for mid-year.

Tamborinyoka said Chamisa had raised several other issues, which he alleged
would work against the party during elections, including violence, abuse of
traditional leaders and opaqueness around the printing and auditing of
ballots. “With a few months to go before the next election, there was
neither agreement nor clarity on these key electoral matters,” Tamborinyoka
said.  He said Chamisa had implored the SADC observer team to ensure that
Zimbabwe complied with the SADC guidelines on the conduct of free and fair
elections.  The party’s secretary general Douglas Mwonzora also told the
same meeting that the government had refused to implement key issues that
would have assured stakeholders.  The party said it wanted the military to
retract previous statements that it would not salute a president who did
not participate in the liberation struggle.Prior to the 2002 elections, the
then Zimbabwe Defense Forces commander Vitalis Zvinavashe said the military
would not support anyone who did not participate in the armed struggle for
independence.