The Zanu PF politburo is meeting Wednesday to discuss the election roadmap timelines agreed by the GPA negotiators while the party’s central committee meets on Friday amid indications the party would re-strategise as it has become apparent elections will not be held this year.
The fate of Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Tracey Mutinhiri, who has fallen out of favour with some members of the party due to her perceived closeness to the MDC-T, is also expected to be discussed following complaints against her from Zanu PF Mashonaland East province.
Insiders said there was a plot to kick her out of the party.
Although the party still prefers elections this year, sources said even the hardliners were coming to the realisation that this was unachievable, mainly due to pressure from Sadc, which has insisted on a clear election roadmap.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo and secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa confirmed the meetings and said the party would come up with a position during the meetings.
“We hope to discuss the timelines,” said Mutasa. “No other business except housekeeping issues will be discussed . . . On Mutinhiri, I am only hearing it on the radio, but I have not received a formal report.”
Gumbo said: “We are holding a politburo meeting tomorrow (today), on Friday we are having the central committee meeting and on Saturday the national assembly is meeting.”
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) yesterday said the timelines set by the negotiators were unrealistic.
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The organisation said the 30 days given for voter education and mobilisation for voter registration and the 60-day timeline given for voter registration and preparation of a new voters’ roll were insufficient.
“This is compounded by the proposed Electoral Amendments Bill which seeks to set up a polling station-based voters’ roll. The proposed system would necessitate ‘re-registration’ of all existing voters and allocation to specific polling stations,” said Zesn.
