Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe begins controversial reelection quest; snubs Britain

However, last week high court judge Moses Chinhengo declared that Mugabe’s proclamation was illegal and that he would send registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede to jail if he failed to fix the dates set by the supreme court.

In parliamentary elections in 2000, Zanu-PF lost every single constituency in Harare to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Since then, the MDC has won municipal elections in the western city of Bulawayo, the southern town of Masvingo, and the small central town of Chegutu, despite concerted campaigns of violence by the ruling party.

Opposition scores upset victory in Zimbabwe parliament

HARARE: Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) scored its first-ever victory in parliament on Tuesday, January 8, 2002, defeating at least temporarily government-backed changes to the elections laws. The MDC, which holds slightly more than one-third of the seats in parliament, managed to defeat the proposed changes in a 36-22 vote, as few of the lawmakers from the ruling party showed up.

The opposition lawmakers erupted into applause after the vote, even though MDC lawmaker Gibson Sibanda said that the ruling party would likely re-introduce the measures and force their passage.

“Psychologically, it gave us a boost, especially as it was one of the bills that had been seeking to disenfranchise many of our supporters,” Sibanda told AFP.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa vowed to circumvent normal parliamentary procedures and re-introduce and pass the measures this month, along with a raft of other legislation that the MDC says would stifle dissent. Chinamasa said Sibanda had agreed to support the legislation before it was brought to a vote and called the MDC’s vote against the electoral changes “treacherous.”

“From now on, I will run the house as a sole effort, without consulting Mr. Sibanda,” Chinamasa told a press conference after the vote. He said within two weeks, the ruling party would pass the electoral amendments, as well as two laws effectively banning protests and another that would ban foreign journalists and impose a strict code of conduct on local journalists.

The MDC says all four measures are designed to give the ruling party a boost in the March presidential elections by stifling dissent.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is struggling for his political survival in the polls when MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to give him a tough challenge.

Zimbabwe has already been wracked by political violence for almost two years, mainly targeting opposition supporters.