ZEC To Suspend By-elections

…as analysts fear Mwonzora could recall more MPs and councillors.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says the holding of National Assembly and Local Authority by-elections will be suspended on 1 November 2022 pending the 2023 General Elections.

In a notice, ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chugumba said vacancies that occur on or after 1 November 2022 will be suspended in line with Section 158(3) of the Constitution. Said Chigumba:

“Section 158(3) of the Constitution provides that polling in by-elections shall take place within ninety days of the vacancies occurring unless the vacancies occur within nine months before a general election is due to be held. The last general election held in 2018 was held on 31 July 2018. It is therefore anticipated from a reading of section 158(3) of the Constitution that general elections will be held on a date to be set during the month of either July or August 2023. Members of the public are thus notified that the filling of vacancies that occur on or after the 1st of November 2022 will be suspended pending the conduct of the 2023 general elections.”

The announcement by ZEC means that any MP or councillor elected on a CCC, MDC Alliance ticket or ZANU PF for that matter, who is recalled from 1 November going forward will have to wait for the general elections to contest for the seat again.

The Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T recently recalled two Victoria Falls councillors accusing them of defying party protocol and siding with rival opposition, CCC. The affected councillors are Ward 7 councillors Thuso Moyo and Josepha Dzangai of Ward 8.

Since a controversial Supreme Court ruling in March 2020 on the MDC-T succession dispute, the opposition party has recalled scores of councillors.