A comment from James, in Harare:

I feel the current exercise to register and inspect names is a project to hoodwink the outside. I also don’t trust ZEC and voters’ rolls that are run by Tobaiwa Mudede’s office becoz he is biased in favour of ZANU PF.

On 13 June, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe announced that elections were to be held 31 July. On the same day, Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai rejected this announcement as unconstitutional, and stating that he would not accept Zimbabweans being “railroaded” into “another illegitimate election.”

We shared this information with our subscribers, and asked them to share their opinions with us.

About two-thirds of respondents agreed with the Prime Minister, suggesting that the July 31 date was too sudden, and that it did not allow adequate time for the necessary reforms and legal process to be followed. Around a quarter said the President was right, and were eager for Zimbabwe to hold elections and move forward. And around a tenth of respondents were of mixed opinion, wanting to wait for SADC to step in and comment, or more concerned that elections simply be non-violent, free and fair, regardless of when they are held.

As a few examples, messages in support of Tsvangirai’s position included:

• How can he do dat alone .enough tyme is needed reform first
• They want 2 prolong their stay in power to loot more.NO TO 31/07/06 ELECTIONS whats the rush for
• Mugabe shouldn’t declare election date .Zimbabwe new constitution says election is set amoung the principals
• Hazviite Reforms first what’s the rush about?
• Thus grossly unfair to many zimbabwean given the scenario in media and electoral sides which need reforms, PM is right

Messages in favour of a 31 July election included:

• We are sick and tired we want election today
• Elections ar overdue, & we’re ready as voters. The economy is suffering. MT must accept the date & prepare.
• All we need are nuetral observers. Other issues wil b taken care of by whoever wins. The int’l community wil assist. We don’t want to be bogged down in the current situation any longer.
• Lets get over this thing called ‘election’ coz it has been dragged far 2 long! 31 July is indeed gud.
• The court has already made a ruling and the President is simply abiding.

Where possible, we mapped this opinion, colour coded by category (use this link to open the map full screen, then click on a point to view that point’s comment in a pop-up window):

View full screen

Read more comments on this election announcement by downloading the full list here.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe stunned the nation yesterday by using the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to gazette amendments to the Electoral Act in the morning. And then he followed this up with a proclamation of election date in the afternoon, gazetting Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Election for 31 July 2013.

President Mugabe justified this action by claiming deference to the Constitutional Court ruling last month that ordered that Zimbabwe’s elections be held on or before 31 July of this year.

Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai immediately issued a statement rejecting Mugabe’s unilateral setting of the election date, calling it unconstitutional.

Indeed, according to Zimbabwe legislation distribution and analysis service Veritas, Mugabe’s actions are problematic (read illegal and invalid) for a number of reasons:

1)      According to section 31H of Zimbabwe’s old constitution which is still in force, the President was required to act in consultation with Cabinet in proclaiming election dates. Given that yesterday’s actions took everyone by surprise, he clearly didn’t do so.

2)      The Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, states that regulations made under the act shall not cover things which the Constitution provides will be covered by an Act of Parliament – The new Constitution requires that the new provisions for the Electoral Law be passed by Parliament, and not made by regulation in terms of another Act (like the Presidential Powers Act).

3)      The Electoral Regulations and the election proclamation have now both been gazetted on 13 June. So both have the same publishing date, that is, they were published simultaneously according to how government dates Statutory Instrument (section 20 of the Interpretation Act). If they were published simultaneously, the regulations “cannot be said to have had effect before the election was called. Hence, under section 157(5) of the new constitution, they must be disregarded.”

So, it would appear that the 31 July election proclamation is both unconstitutional and illegal. The trouble, of course, is how to enforce the law in a country whose President so flagrantly disregards it. This just makes things doubly worrying, however. As Marko Phiri pointed out yesterday, “if Mugabe can unilaterally call for polls despite Tsvangirai’s own earlier declaration that he holds the keys to elections, what is to stop him (Mugabe) from declaring himself a winner in the elections, or as he did in 2008 refuse to accept defeat.”

One of the books in my current reading list is The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Is Not Working by Robert Calderisi. Riveting stuff. Calderisi writes: “ ‘Continued rule for half a generation must turn a man into an autocrat,’ thought Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and author of The Great Boer War (1901), ‘The old president (Paul Kruger) has said himself that when one gets a good ox to lead the team it is a pity to change him. If a good ox however is left to choose his own direction without guidance, he may draw his wagon into trouble.’ ” Calderisi, a former World Bank senior official who for many years worked in Africa, then adds his own voice: “One wishes that later African presidents could be described so indulgently.”

Mugabe’s giving people lots of time isn’t he?

DISTRICT-CHIKOMBA EAST, REGISTRATION CENTRE-WARIKANDWA SEC. SCH. Mobile voter registration started on Monday at Warikandwa Secondary School in Chikomba East at a low note due to poor publicity.

Istanbul.