Movement for Democratic Change Led By Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai Denies It Plans to Boycott General Elections
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday denied it plans to boycott this year’s general elections if there are no changes to the country’s Electoral commission.
MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora dismissed utterances attributed to his party’s secretary general Tendai Biti to the effect that they were considering pulling out of the forthcoming polls as “hooligans are the ones still in charge of running the elections” at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
“Biti did not, at any point during his delivery, mention, let alone insinuate the idea of an election boycott by the MDC,” Mwonzora said.
The privately owned Daily News said in a front-page article on Thursday that South African President Jacob Zuma – who is the regional mediator in Zimbabwe’s long-running power-sharing dispute – had already been notified of the boycott plan.
Mwonzora said there was no such boycott plan and insisted that the MDC was ready to win in the upcoming watershed elections “because our confidence lies in the people’s desire to see a new, better and prosperous Zimbabwe”.
The denial by Mwonzora however contradicts his party’s previous position that it would not take part in any future polls conducted without far-reaching political and electoral reforms such as the removal of state security agents employed by ZEC and professionalization of the police and army.
Zimbabwe is set to hold presidential, parliamentary and local government elections after a constitutional referendum this year.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
Category: Africa
