Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Friday it feared plans were already under way to rig elections set for March next year.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was last week cleared of his first count of treason, alleged that Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF planned to shift constituency boundaries in favour of its rural strongholds.
Tsvangirai also slated the country’s voters’ roll, long claimed to be inaccurate.
He said despite population growth in Zimbabwe’s two main cities, Harare and Bulawayo, the roll showed a decline in the number of urban voters.
Zimbabwe’s cities and major towns are MDC strongholds where the opposition enjoys overwhelming majorities.
”There has been intimidation and political violence, but the manipulation of the voters’ roll has been the most common instrument of vote rigging,” Tsvangirai said.
Meanwhile, the MDC said it was concerned about the composition of the Delimitation Commission, set up to re-draw voting constituencies in next year’s parliamentary poll.
Despite claims from the Zanu-PF that it was complying with Southern African Development Community principles on free and fair elections, the commission as well as the Independent Electoral Commission were made up of members appointed directly by President Robert Mugabe.
”Because of these issues, I have demanded an immediate independent audit of the voters’ roll to rectify the grave anomalies prior to the delimitation work. I have instructed my legal team to consider legal action on the issue,” Tsvangirai said. – Sapa